NEWSPAPER  REPORTING 
AND    CORRESPONDENCE 


NEWSPAPER  REPORTING 
AND  CORRESPONDENCE* 


A  MANUAL  FOR  REPORTERS, 

CORRESPONDENTS,  AND  STUDENTS 

OF  NEWSPAPER  WRITING 


BY 


GRANT  MILNOR  HYDE,  M.A, 

INSTRUCTOR  IN  JOURNALISM  IN  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

D.   APPLETON    AND    COMPANY 

1912 


COPYRIGHT,  1912,  BY 
D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


TO 

MY  MOTHER 


284630 


INTRODUCTION 

The  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  instruct  the  pros- 
pective newspaper  reporter  in  the  way  to  write  those 
stories  which  his  future  paper  will  call  upon  him  to 
write,  and  to  help  the  young  cub  reporter  and  the 
struggling"  correspondent  past  the  perils  of  the  copy- 
reader's  pencil  by  telling  them  how  to  write  clean 
copy  that  requires  a  minimum  of  editing.  It  is  not 
concerned  with  the  why  of  the  newspaper  business 
— the  editor  may  attend  to  that — but  with  the  how 
of  the  reporter's  work.  And  an  ability  to  write  is 
believed  to  be  the  reporter's  chief  asset.  There  is 
no  space  in  this  book  to  dilate  upon  newspaper  or- 
ganization, the  work  of  the  business  office,  the  writ- 
ing of  advertisements,  the  principles  of  editorial 
writing,  or  the  how  and  why  of  newspaper  policy 
and  practice,  as  it  is.  These  things  do  not  concern 
the  reporter  during  the  first  few  months  of  his  work, 
and  he  will  learn  them  from  experience  when  he 
needs  them.  Until  then,  his  usefulness  depends 
solely  upon  his  ability  to  get  news  and  to  write  it. 

There  are  two  phases  of  the  work  which  every 
reporter  must  learn :  how  to  get  the  news  and  how 

vii 


INTRODUCTION 

to  write  it.  The  first  he  can  pick  up  easily  by  actual 
newspaper  experience — if  nature  has  endowed  him 
with  "a  nose  for  news."  The  writing  of  the  news 
he  can  learn  only  by  hard  practice — a  year's  hard 
practice  on  some  papers — and  it  is  generally  con- 
ceded that  practice  in  writing  news  stories  can  be 
secured  at  home  or  in  the  classroom  as  effectively  as 
practice  in  writing  short  stories,  plays,  business  let- 
ters, or  any  other  special  form  of  composition. 
Newspaper  experience  may  aid  the  reporter  in  learn- 
ing how  to  write  his  stories,  but  a  newspaper  ap- 
prenticeship is  not  absolutely  necessary.  However, 
whether  he  is  studying  the  trade  of  newspaper  writ- 
ing in  his  home,  in  a  classroom,  or  in  the  city  room 
of  a  daily  paper,  he  needs  positive  instruction  in  the 
English  composition  of  the  newspaper  office — rather 
than  haphazard  criticism  and  a  deluge  of  don'ts." 
Hence  this  book  is  concerned  primarily  with  the 
writing  of  the  news. 

Successful  newspaper  reporting  requires  both  an 
ability  to  write  good  English  and  an  ability  to  write 
good  English  in  the  conventional  newspaper  form. 
And  there  is  a  conventional  form  for  every  kind  of 
newspaper  story.  Many  editors  of  the  present  day 
are  trying  to  break  away  from  the  conventional  form 
and  to  evolve  a  looser  and  more  natural  method  of 
writing  news  stories.  The  results  are  often  bizarre 

viii 


INTRODUCTION 

and  sometimes  very  effective.  Certainly  originality 
in  expression  adds  much  to  the  interest  of  news- 
paper stories,  and  many  a  good  piece  of  news  is 
ruined  by  a  bald,  dry  recital  of  facts.  Just  as  the 
good  reporter  is  always  one  who  can  give  his  yarns 
a  distinctive  flavor,  great  newspaper  stories  are  sel- 
dom written  under  the  restriction  of  rules.  But  no 
young  reporter  can  hope  to  attain  success  through 
originality  and  defiance  of  rules  until  he  has  first 
mastered  the  fundamental  principles  of  newspaper 
writing.  He  can  never  expect  to  write  "the  story 
of  the  year"  until  he  has  learned  to  handle  everyday 
news  without  burying  the  gist  of  his  stories — any 
more  than  an  artist  can  hope  to  paint  a  living  por- 
trait until  he  has  learned,  with  the  aid  of  rules,  to 
draw  tke  face  of  a  plaster  block-head.  Hence  the 
emphasis  upon  form  and  system  in  this  book.  And, 
whatever  the  form  may  be,  the  embodiment  must  be 
clear,  concise,  grammatical  English;  that  is  the  ex- 
cuse for  the  many  axioms  of  simple  English  gram- 
mar that  are  introduced  side  by  side  with  the  study 
of  the  newspaper  form. 

The  author  offers  this  book  as  the  result  of  per- 
sonal newspaper  experience  and  of  his  work  as  in- 
structor in  classes  in  newspaper  writing  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Wisconsin.  Every  item  that  is  offered 
is  the  result  of  an  attempt  to  correct  the  mistakes 

ix 


INTRODUCTION 

that  have  appeared  most  often  in  the  papers  of  stu- 
dents who  are  trying  to  do  newspaper  writing  in 
the  classroom.  The  seemingly  disproportionate  em- 
phasis upon  certain  branches  of  the  subject  and  the 
constant  repetition  of  certain  simple  principles  are 
to  be  excused  by  the  purpose  of  the  book — to  be  a 
text-book  in  the  course  of  study  worked  out  in  this 
school  of  journalism.  The  use  of  the  fire  story  as 
typical  of  all  newspaper  stories  and  as  a  model  for 
all  newspaper  writing  is  characteristic  of  this  method 
of  instruction.  Four  chapters  are  devoted  to  the 
explanation  of  a  single  principle  which  any  reader 
could  grasp  in  a  moment,  because  experience  has 
shown  that  an  equivalent  of  four  chapters  of  study 
and  practice  is  required  to  teach  the  student  the  ap- 
plication of  this  principle  and  to  fix  it  in  his  mind 
so  thoroughly  that  he  will  not  forget  it  in  his  later 
work  of  writing  more  complicated  stories.  It  is 
felt  that  the  beginner  needs  and  must  have  the  de- 
tailed explanation,  the  constant  reiteration  and  some 
definite  rules  to  guide  him  in  his  practice.  Hence 
the  emphasis  upon  the  conventional  form.  Since, 
in  the  application  of  the  newspaper  principle  of  be- 
ginning with  the  gist  of  the  story,  the  structure  of 
the  lead  is  of  greater  importance  than  the  rest  of  the 
story,  this  book  devotes  the  greater  part  of  its  dis- 
cussion to  the  lead. 


INTRODUCTION 

The  suggestions  for  practice  are  attached  in  an 
attempt  to  give  the  young  newspaper  man  some 
positive  instruction.  Most  reporters  are  instructed 
by  a  system  of  "don'ts,"  growled  out  by  busy  edi- 
tors; most  correspondents  receive  no  instruction  at 
all — a  positive  suggestion  now  and  then  cannot  but 
help  them  both.  Practice  is  necessary  in  the  study  of 
any  form  of  writing;  these  suggestions  for  practice 
embody  the  method  of  practice  used  in  this  school 
of  journalism.  The  examples  are  taken  from  repre- 
sentative papers  of  the  entire  country  to  show  the 
student  how  the  stories  are  actually  written  in  news- 
paper offices. 

Madison,  Wisconsin, 

June  3,  1912. 


XI 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.     GATHERING  THE  NEWS i 

II.     NEWS  VALUES 14 

III.  NEWSPAPER  TERMS 28 

IV.  THE  NEWS  STORY  FORM        ....  34 
V.     THE  SIMPLE  FIRE  STORY      .        .        .    '     .  41 

VI.     THE  FEATURE  FIRE  STORY    .        .  50 

VII.     FAULTS  IN  NEWS  STORIES      ....  75 

VIII.     OTHER  NEWS  STORIES    .         .                 .         .  105 

IX.     FOLLOW-UP  AND  REWRITE  STORIES        .        -125 

X.     REPORTS  OF  SPEECHES 143 

XI.     INTERVIEWS 169 

XII.     COURT  REPORTING                                           .  192 

XIII.  SOCIAL  NEWS  AND  OBITUARIES      .        .        .  204 

XIV.  SPORTING  NEWS 219 

XV.     HUMAN  INTEREST  STORIES     ....  233 

XVI.     DRAMATIC  REPORTING 259 

XVII.     STYLE  BOOK 276 

APPENDIX     I — SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY      .        .        .  294 

APPENDIX  II— NEWS  STORIES  TO  BE  CORRECTED        .  311 

INDEX ...  339 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 
AND     CORRESPONDENCE 


GATHERING   THE   NEWS 

Unlike  almost  any  other  profession,  that  of  a 
newspaper  reporter  combines  two  very  different  ac- 
tivities— the  gathering  of  news  and  the  writing  of 
news.  Part  of  the  work  must  be  done  in  the  office 
and  part  of  it  outside  on  the  street.  At  his  desk  in 
the  office  a  reporter  is  engaged  in  the  literary,  or 
pseudo-literary,  occupation  of  writing  news  stories; 
outside  on  the  street  he  is  a  detective  gathering  news 
and  hunting  for  elusive  facts  to  be  combined  later 
into  stories.  Although  the  two  activities -are  closely 
related,  each  requires  a  different  sort  of  ability  and 
a  different  training.  In  a  newspaper  office  the  two 
activities  are  rarely  separated,  but  a  beginner  must 
learn  each  duty  independent  of  the  other.  This 
book  will  not  attempt  to  deal  with  both ;  it  will  con- 

i 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

fine  itself  mainly  to  one  phase,  the  pseudo-literary 
activity  of  writing  news  stories. 

However,  introductory  to  the  discussion  of  the 
writing  of  newspaper  stories,  we  may  glance  at  the 
other  side  of  the  newspaper  writer's  work — the 
gathering  of  the  news.  Where  the  newspaper  gets  its 
news  and  how  it  gets  its  news  can  be  learned  only 
by  experience,  for  it  differs  in  different  cities  and 
with  different  papers.  But  an  outline  of  the  back- 
ground of  news-gathering  may  assist  us  in  writing 
the  news  after  it  is  gathered  and  ready  for  us  to 
write. 

1.  Reporter  vs.  Correspondent. — There  are  two  ca- 
pacities in  which  one  may  write  news  stories  for  a 
paper.  He  may  work  on  the  staff  as  a  regular  re- 
porter or  he  may  supply  news  from  a  distance  as  a 
correspondent.  In  the  one  case  he  works  under  the 
personal  supervision  of  a  city  editor  and  spends  his 
entire  time  at  the  regular  occupation  of  gathering 
and  writing  news.  As  a  correspondent  he  works  in 
a  distant  city,  under  the  indirect  supervision  of  the 
city,  telegraph,  or  state  editor,  and  sends  in  only  the 
occasional  stories  that  seem  to  be  of  interest  to.  his 
paper.  In  either  case  the  same  rules  apply  to  his 
news  gathering  and  to  his  news  writing.  And  in 
either  case  the  length  of  his  employment  depends 
upon  his  ability  to  turn  in  clean  copy  in  the  form  in 

2 


GATHERING   THE   NEWS 

which  his  paper  wishes  to  print  the  news.  Both  the 
reporter  and  the  correspondent  must  write  their 
stories  in  the  same  form  and  must  look  at  news  and 
the  sources  of  news  from  almost  the  same  point  of 
view.  Whatever  is  said  of  the  reporter  applies 
equally  to  the  correspondent. 

2.  Expected  and  Unexpected  News — The  daily 
news  may  be  divided  into  two  classes  from  the  news- 
paper's point  of  view:  expected  and  unexpected 
news.  Expected  news  includes  all  stories  of  which 
the  paper  has  a  previous  knowledge.  Into  this  class 
fall  all  meetings,  speeches,  sermons,  elections,  ath- 
letic contests,  social  events,  and  daily  happenings 
that  do  not  come  unexpectedly.  They  are  the  events 
that  are  announced  beforehand  and  tipped  off  to  the 
paper  in  time  for  the  editor  to  send  out  a  reporter 
to  cover  them  personally.  These  events  are  of 
course  recorded  in  the  office,  and  each  day  the  editor 
has  a  certain  number  of  them,  a  certain  amount  of 
news  that  he  is  sure  of.  Each  day  he  looks  over  his 
book  to  note  the  events  that  are  to  take  place  during 
that  day  and  sends  out  his  reporters  to  cover  them. 

The  other  class  includes  the  stories  that  break  un- 
expectedly. Accidents,  deaths,  fires,  storms,  and 
other  unexpected  happenings  come  without  warning 
and  the  reporting  of  them  cannot  be  arranged  for 
in  advance.  These  are  the  stories  that  the  paper  is 
2  3 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

most  anxious  to  get  and  the  things  for  which  the 
whole  staff  always  has  its  eyes  and  ears  open.  Sel- 
dom are  they  heard  of  in  time  for  the  paper  to  have 
them  covered  personally,  and  the  reporting  of  such 
stories  becomes  a  separate  sort  of  work — the  gather- 
ing and  sorting  of  the  facts  that  can  be  obtained 
only  from  chance  witnesses. 

3.  News  Sources. — There  are  certain  sources  from 
which  the  paper  gets  most  of  its  tips  of  expected 
events  and  its  knowledge  of  unexpected  events. 
These  every  editor  knows  about.  The  courts,  the 
public  records,  the  public  offices,  the  churches,  and 
the  schools  furnish  a  great  many  of  the  tips  of  ex- 
pected news.  The  police  stations,  the  fire  stations, 
the  hospitals,  and  the  morgues  furnish  most  of  the 
tips  of  unexpected  news.  Whenever  an  event  is  go- 
ing to  happen,  or  whenever  an  unexpected  occur- 
rence does  happen,  a  notice  of  it  is  to  be  found  in 
some  one  of  these  sources.  Such  a  notice  or  a  casual 
word  from  any  one  is  called  a  "tip"  and  indicates 
the  possibility  of  securing  a  story.  The  securing  of 
the  story  is  another  matter.  A  would-be  reporter 
may  get  good  practice  from  studying  the  stories  in 
the  daily  papers  and  trying  to  discover  or  imagine 
from  what  source  the  original  news  tip  came.  He 
will  soon  find  that  certain  classes  of 'stories  always 
come  from  certain  sources  and  that  there  is  a  per- 

4 


GATHERING   THE   NEWS 

ceptible  amount  of  routine  evident  in  the  accounts  of 
the  most  unexpected  occurrences. 

4.  Runs  and  Assignments. — Between  the  news  tip 
and  the  finished  copy  for  the  compositor  there  is  a 
vast  amount  of  news  gathering,  which  falls  to  the 
lot  of  the  reporter.  This  is  handled  by  a  system  of 
runs  and  special  assignments.  A  reporter  usually 
has  his  own  run,  or  beat,  on  which  he  gathers  news. 
His  run  may  cover  a  certain  number  of  police  sta- 
tions or  the  city  hall  or  any  group  of  regular  news 
sources.  Each  day  he  must  visit  the  various  sources 
of  news  on  his  beat  and  gather  the  tips  and  whatever 
facts  about  the  stories  behind  the  tips  that  he  can. 
The  tips  that  he  secures  furnish  him  with  clues  to 
the  stories,  and  it  is  his  business  to  get  the  facts 
behind  all  of  the  tips  on  his  beat  and  to  write  them 
up,  unless  a  tip  opens  up  a  story  that  is  too  big  for 
him  to  handle  alone  without  neglecting  his  beat. 

Assignments  are  used  to  cover  the  stories  that  do 
not  come  in  through  the  regular  sources,  and  to  han- 
dle the  big  stories  that  are  unearthed  on  the  regular 
beats.  The  editor  turns  over  to  the  reporter  the  tip 
that  he  has  received  and  instructs  him  to  go  out  and 
get  the  facts.  A  paper's  best  reporters  are  used  al- 
most entirely  on  assignments,  and  when  they  go  out 
after  a  story  they  practically  become'  detectives. 
They  follow  every  clue  that  the  tip  suggests  and 

5 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

every  clue  that  is  opened  up  as  they  progress;  they 
hunt  down  the  facts  until  they  are  reasonably  sure 
that  they  have  secured  the  whole  story.  The  result 
may  not  be  worth  writing,  or  it  may  be  worth  a 
place  on  the  front  page,  but  the  reporter  must  get 
to  the  bottom  of  it.  Whether  on  a  beat  or  on  an 
assignment  every  reporter  must  have  his  ears  open 
for  a  tip  of  some  unexpected  story  and  must  secure 
the  facts  or  inform  the  editor  at  once.  It  is  in  this 
way  that  a  paper  gets  a  scoop,  or  beat,  on  its  rivals 
by  printing  a  story  before  the  other  papers  have 
heard  of  it. 

5.  Interviews  for  Facts. — To  cover  an  assignment 
and  secure  the  facts  of  a  story  is  not  at  all  easy.  If 
the  reporter  could  be  a  personal  witness  of  the  hap- 
pening which  he  is  to  report,  the  task  would  be  sim- 
pler. But,  outside  the  case  of  expected  events,  he 
rarely  hears  of  the  occurrence  until  after  it  is  past 
and  the  excitement  has  subsided.  Then  he  must 
find  the  persons  who  witnessed  the  occurrence  or 
who  know  the  facts,  and  get  the  story  from  them. 
Perhaps  he  has  to  see  a  dozen  people  to  get  the  in- 
formation he  wants.  Getting  facts  from  people  in 
this  way  is  called  interviewing — interviewing  for 
facts,  as  distinguished  from  formal  interviewing  for 
the  purpose  of  securing  a  statement  or  an  opinion 
that  is  to  be  printed  with  the  name  of  the  man  who 

6 


GATHERING   THE   NEWS 

utters  it.  Although  a  dozen  interviews  may  be 
necessary  for  a  single  story,  not  one  of  them  is  men- 
tioned in  the  story,  for  they  are  of  no  importance 
except  in  the  facts  that  they  supply. 

For  example,  suppose  a  reporter  is  sent  out  to  get 
the  story  of  a  fire  that  has  started  an  hour  or  two 
before  he  goes  on  duty.  All  that  his  editor  gives 
him  is  the  tip  from  the  fire  department,  or  from 
some  other  source,  of  a  fire  at  such-and-such  an  ad- 
dress. When  he  arrives  at  the  scene  there  is  nothing 
left  but  smoldering  ruins  with  perhaps  an  engine 
throwing  a  stream  on  the  smoking  debris  and  a  few 
by-standers  still  loitering  about.  He  can  see  with 
his  own  eyes  what  kind  of  building  has  burned,  and 
how  completely  it  has  been  destroyed.  A  by-stander 
may  be  able  to  tell  him  who  occupied  the  building  or 
what  it  was  used  for,  but  he  must  hunt  for  some  one 
else  who  can  give  him  the  exact  facts  that  his  paper 
wants.  Perhaps  he  can  find  the  tenant  and  learn 
from  him  what  his  loss  has  been.  The  tenant  can 
give  him  the  name  of  the  owner  and  may  be  able  to 
tell  him  something  about  the  origin  of  the  fire.  He 
must  find  the  owner  to  get  the  value  of  the  building 
and  the  amount  of  insurance  carried.  Perhaps  he 
cannot  find  any  of  these  people  and  must  ask  the 
fire  chief  or  some  one  else  to  give  him  what  facts 
and  estimates  he  can.  If  the  fire  is  at  all  serious  he 

7 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

must  find  out  who  was  killed  or  injured  and  get 
their  names  and  addresses  and  the  nature  of  their 
injury  or  the  manner  of  their  death.  Perhaps  he 
can  talk  to  some  of  the  people  who  had  narrow  es- 
capes, or  interview  the  friends  or  relatives  of  the 
dead.  Everywhere  he  turns  new  clues  open  up,  and 
he  must  follow  each  one  of  them  in  turn  until  he  is 
sure  that  he  has  all  the  facts. 

6.  Point  of  View — The  task  would  be  easy  if 
every  one  could  tell  the  reporter  just  the  facts  that 
his  paper  wants.  But  in  the  confusion  every  one 
is  excited  and  fairly  bubbling  over  with  rumors  and 
guesses  which  may  later  turn  out  to  be  false.  Each 
person  who  is  interested  in  the  incident  sees  and  tells 
it  only  from  his  own  point  of  view.  Obviously  the 
reporter's  paper  does  not  want  the  facts  from  many 
different  points  of  view,  nor  even  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  fire  department,  of  the  owner,  or  of  the 
woman  who  was  rescued  from  the  third  floor.  The 
paper  wants  the  story  from  a  single  point  of  view — 
the  point  of  view  of  an  uninterested  spectator.  Con- 
sequently the  reporter  must  get  the  facts  through 
interviews  with  a  dozen  different  people,  discount 
possible  exaggeration  and  falsity  due  to  excitement, 
make  allowances  for  the  different  points  of  view, 
harmonize  conflicting  statements,  and  sift  from  the 
mass  what  seems  to  him  to  be  the  truth.  Then  he 

8 


GATHERING    THE    NEWS 

must  write  the  story  from  the  uninterested  point  of 
view  of  the  public,  which  wants  to  hear  the  exact 
facts  of  the  fire  told  in  an  unprejudiced  way.  Never 
does  the  story  mention  any  of  the  interviews  behind 
it  except  when  the  reporter  is  afraid  of  some  state- 
ment and  wants  to  put  the  responsibility  upon  the 
person  who  gave  it  to  him.  And  so  the  finished 
story  that  we  read  in  the  next  morning's  paper  is 
the  composite  story  of  the  fire  chief,,  the  owner,  the 
tenant,  the  man  who  discovered  the  fire,  the  widow 
who  was  driven  from  her  little  flat,  the  little  girl 
who  was  carried  down  a  ladder  through  the  smoke, 
the  man  who  lost  everything  he  had  in  the  world, 
and  the  cynic  who  watched  the  flames  from  behind 
the  fireline — all  massed  together  and  sifted  and  re- 
told in  an  impersonal  way  from  the  point  of  view  of 
a  by-stander  who  has  been  everywhere  through  the 
flames  and  has  kept  his  brain  free  from  the  terror 
and  excitement  of  it  all. 

The  same  is  true  of  every  story  that  is  printed  in 
a  newspaper.  Every  story  must  be  secured  in  the 
same  way — whether  it  is  the  account  of  a  business 
transaction,  a  bank  robbery,  a  political  scandal,  a 
murder,  a  reception,  or  a  railroad  wreck.  Seldom 
is  it  possible  to  find  any  one  person  who  knows  all 
the  facts  just  as  the  newspaper  wants  them,  and 
many  a  story  that  is  worth  but  a  stickful  in  the  first 

9 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

edition  is  the  result  of  two  hours'  running  about 
town,  half  a  dozen  telephone  calls,  and  a  dozen  in- 
terviews. That  is  the  way  the  news  is  gathered, 
and  that  is  the  part  of  the  reporter's  work  that  he 
must  learn  by  experience.  But  after  all  the  gather- 
ing is  finished  and  he  has  the  facts,  the  writing  of 
the  story  remains.  If  the  reporter  knows  how  to 
write  the  facts  when  he  has  them,  his  troubles  are 
cut  in  half,  for  nowadays  a  reporter  who  writes  well 
is  considered  a  more  valuable  asset  than  one  who 
cannot  write  and  simply  has  a  nose  for  news. 

7.  News-Gathering  Agencies This      account      of 

news  gathering  is  of  course  told  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  reporter.  Naturally  it  assumes  a  dif- 
ferent aspect  in  the  editor's  eyes.  Much  of  the  day's 
news  does  not  have  to  be  gathered  at  all.  A  steady 
stream  of  news  flows  in  ready  for  use  from  the 
great  news-gathering  agencies,  the  Associated  Press, 
the  United  Press,  the  City  Press,  etc.,  and  from  cor- 
respondents. Many  stories  are  merely  summaries 
of  speeches,  bulletins,  announcements,  pamphlets 
and  other  printed  matter  that  comes  to  the  editorial 
office,  and  many  stories  come  already  written.  Al- 
most everybody  is  looking  for  publicity  in  these  days 
and  the  editor  does  not  always  have  to  hunt  the 
news  with  an  army  of  ferrets.  Cooperation  in  news 
gathering  has  simplified  the  whole  matter.  But  it 

10 


GATHERING   THE   NEWS 

all  has  to  be  written  and  edited.  That  is  why  great 
reporters  are  no  longer  praised  for  their  cleverness 
in  worming  their  way  to  elusive  facts,  but  for  their 
ability  to  write  a  good  story.  That  is  why  we  no 
longer  hear  so  much  about  beats  and  scoops  but 
more  about  clean  copy  and  "literary  masterpieces." 

8.  How  the  Correspondent  Works — The  corre- 
spondent gathers  news  very  much  as  the  reporter 
does,  but  he  does  it  without  the  help  of  a  city  editor. 
He  must  be  his  own  director  and  keep  his  own  book 
of  tips,  for  he  has  no  one  to  make  out  his  assign- 
ments beforehand.  He  has  to  watch  for  what  news 
he  can  get  by  himself  and  send  it  to  his  paper  of 
his  own  accord,  except  occasionally  when  his  paper 
instructs  him  to  cover  a  particularly  large  story. 
But  he  gets  his  tips  and  runs  down  his  facts  just  as 
a  reporter  does.  Just  as  much  alertness  and  just  as 
much  ability  to  write  are  required  of  him. 

The  correspondent's  work  is  made  more  difficult 
by  what  is  called  news  values.  •  Distance  affects  the 
importance  of  the  facts  that  he  secures  and  the 
length  of  the  stories  he  writes.  He  must  weigh 
every  event  for  its  interest  to  readers  a  hundred  or 
a  thousand  miles  away.  What  may  be  of  immense 
importance  in  his  community  may  have  no  interest 
at  all  for  readers  outside  that  community.  He  must 
see  everything  with  the  eyes  of  a  stranger,  and  this 

II 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

must  influence  his  whole  work  of  news  gathering 
and  news  writing.  This  matter  will  be  taken  up  at 
greater  length  in  the  next  chapter. 

9.  Correspondent's  Relation  to  His  Paper. — The  re- 
lations of  a  correspondent  to  the  paper  or  news  as- 
sociation to  which  he  is  sending  news  can  best  be 
learned  by  experience.  Every  paper  has  different 
rules  for  its  correspondents  and  different  directions 
in  regard  to  the  sort  of  news  it  wants.  The  rules 
regarding  the  mailing  of  copy  and  the  sending  of 
stories  or  queries  by  telegraph  are  usually  sent  out 
in  printed  form  by  each  individual  paper  to  its  cor- 
respondents. But  while  gathering  news  and  writing 
stories  for  a  distant  paper,  a  correspondent  must  al- 
ways regard  himself  as  a  reporter  and  write  his 
stories  in  the  form  in  which  they  are  to  appear  in 
print  if  he  wishes  to  remain  correspondent  for  any 
length  of  time.  The  following  rules  are  taken  from 
the  "INSTRUCTIONS  TO  CORRESPONDENTS"  sent  out 
on  a  printed  card  to  the  correspondents  of  the  St. 
Louis  Star: 

QUERY  BY  WIRE  ON  ALL  STORIES  you  consider  are 
worth  telegraphing,  unless  you  are  absolutely  certain  The 
Star  wants  you  to  send  the  story  without  query,  or  in  case 
of  a  big  story  breaking  suddenly  near  edition  time.  If  you 
have  not  time  to  query,  get  a  reply  and  send  such  matter  as 
might  be  ordered  before  the  next  edition  time ;  send  the  story 
in  the  shortest  possible  number  of  words  necessary  to  tell  it, 
asking  if  additional  matter  is  desired. 

13 


GATHERING   THE   NEWS 

Write  your  queries  so  they  can  be  understood.  Never  send 
a  "blind"  query.  If  John  Smith,  a  confirmed  bachelor,  whose 
age  is  80  years,  elopes  with  and  marries  the  daughter  of  the 
woman  who  jilted  him  when  he  was  a  youth,  say  so  in  as  few 
words  as  possible,  but  be  sure  to  convey  the  dramatic  news 
worth  of  the  story  in  your  query.  Do  not  say,  "Bachelor 
elopes  with  girl,  daughter  of  woman  he  knew  a  long  time 
ago."  In  itself  the  story  which  this  query  tells  might  be  worth 
printing,  but  it  would  not  be  half  so  good  a  story  as  the 
elopement  of  John  Smith,  80,  bachelor,  woman  hater,  with  the 
daughter  of  his  old  sweetheart. 

When  a  good  story  breaks  close  to  edition  time  and  the 
circumstances  justify  it,  use  the  long-distance  telephone,  but 
first  be  reasonably  certain  The  Star  will  not  get  the  story  from 
another  source. 

Write  your  stories  briefly.  The  Star  desires  to  remunerate 
its  correspondents  according  to  the  worth  of  a  story  and  not 
for  so  many  words.  One  good  story  of  200  words  with  the 
right  "punch"  in  the  introduction  is  worth  a  dozen  strung 
over  as  many  dozen  pages  of  copy  paper  with  the  real  story 
in  the  last  paragraph  of  each.  Tell  your  story  in  simple, 
every-day  conversational  words :  quit  when  you  have  finished/ 
Relegate  the  details.  Unless  it  is  a  case  of  identification  in  a 
murder  mystery,  or  some  similar  big  story,  no  one  cares  about 
the  color  of  the  man's  hair.  Get  the  principal  facts  in  the 
first  paragraph — stop  soon  after. 

Send  as  much  of  your  stuff  as  possible  by  mail,  especially 
if  you  have  the  story  in  the  late  afternoon  and  are  near 
enough  to  St.  Louis  to  reach  The  Star  by  9  o'clock  the  next 
morning.  If  necessary,  send  the  letter  special  delivery. 

Don't  stop  working  on  a  good  story  when  you  have  all  the 
facts;  if  there  are  photographs  to  be  obtained,  get  the  photo- 
graphs, especially  if  the  principals  in  the  story  are  persons  of 
standing,  and  more  especially  if  they  are  women. 

Correspondents  will  appreciably  increase  their  worth  to 
The  Star  and  enhance  their  earning  capacity  by  observing 
these  rules. 

13 


II 

NEWS    VALUES 

Before  any  one  can  hope  to  write  for  a  newspaper 
he  must  know  something  about  news  values — some- 
thing about  the  essence  of  interest  that  makes  one 
story  worth  a  column  and  cuts  down  another,  of 
equal  importance  from  other  points  of  view,  to  a 
stickful.  He  must  recognize  the  relative  value  of 
facts  so  that  he  can  distinguish  the  significant  part 
of  his  story  and  feature  it  accordingly.  The  ques- 
tion is  a  delicate  one  and  yet  a  very  reasonable  and 
logical  one.  The  ideal  of  a  newspaper,  according 
to  present-day  ethics,  is  to  print  news.  The  daily 
press  is  no  longer  a  golden  treasury  of  contemporary 
literature,  not  even,  perhaps,  an  exponent  of  political 
principles.  Its  primary  purpose  is  to  report  con- 
temporary history — to  keep  us  informed  concerning 
the  events  that  are  taking  place  each  day  in  the 
world  about  us. 

To  this  idea  is  added  another.  A  newspaper  must 
be  interesting.  In  these  days  of  many  newspapers 
few  readers  are  satisfied  with  merely  being  in- 

14 


NEWS   VALUES 

formed;  they  want  to  be  informed  in  a  way  that 
interests  them.  T.o  this  demand  every  one  connected 
with  a  newspaper  office  tries  to  cater.  It  is  the  de- 
fense of  the  sensational  yellow  journals  and  it  is 
the  reason  for  everything  in  the  daily  press.  There 
is  so  much  to  read  that  people  will  not  read  things 
that  do  not  interest  them,  and  the  paper  that  suc- 
ceeds is  the  paper  that  interests  the  greatest  number 
of  readers.  Circulation  cannot  be  built  up  by  print- 
ing uninteresting  stuff  that  the  majority  of  readers 
are  not  interested  in,  and  circulation  is  necessary  to 
success. 

This  desire  to  interest  readers  is  behind  the  whole 
question  of  news  values.  News  is  primarily  the  ac- 
count of  the  latest  events,  but,  more  than  that,  it  is 
the  account  of  the  latest  events  that  interest  readers 
who  are  not  connected  with  these  events.  Further 
than  that,  it  is  the  account  of  the  latest  events  that 
interest  the  greatest  number  of  readers.  Susie 
Brown  may  have  sprained  her  ankle.  The  fact  is 
absorbingly  interesting  to  Susie;  it  is  even  rather 
interesting  to  her  family  and  friends,  even  to  her 
enemies.  If  she  is  well  known  in  the  little  town  in 
which  she  lives  her  accident  may  be  interesting 
enough  to  the  townspeople  for  the  local  weekly  to 
print  a  complete  account  of  it.  However,  the  event 
is  interesting  only  to  people  who  know  Susie,  and 

15 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

after  all  they  do  not  comprise  a  very  large  number. 
Hence  her  accident  has  no  news  value  outside  the 
local  weekly.  On  the  other  hand,  had  Susie  sprained 
her  ankle  in  some  very  peculiar  manner,  the  acci- 
dent might  be  of  interest  to  people  who  do  not  know 
Susie.  Suppose  that  she  had  tripped  on  her  gown 
as  she  was  ascending  the  steps  of  the  altar  to  be 
married.  Such  an  accident  would  be  very  unusual, 
almost  unheard  of.  People  in  general  are  interested 
in  unusual  things,  and  many,  many  readers  would  be 
interested  in  reading  about  Susie's  unusual  accident 
although  they  did  not  know  Susie  or  even  the  town 
in  which  she  lives.  Such  a  story  would  be  the  re- 
port of  a  late  event  that  would  interest  many  people ; 
hence  it  would  have  a  certain  amount  of  news  value. 
Of  course,  the  reader  loses  sight  of  Susie  in  reading 
of  her  accident — it  might  as  well  have  been  Mary 
Jones — but  that  is  because  Susie  has  no  news  value 
in  herself.  That  is  another  matter. 

1.  Classes  of  Readers — Realizing  that  his  story 
must  be  of  interest  to  the  greatest  number  of  people, 
the  reporter  must  remember  the  sort  of  people  for 
whom  he  is  writing.  That  complicates  the  whole 
matter.  If  he  were  writing  for  a  single  class  of 
readers  he  could  easily  give  them  the  news  that 
would  interest  them.  But  he  is  not;  he  is  writing 
for  many  classes  of  people,  for  all  classes  of  people. 

16 


NEWS   VALUES 

And  he  must  interest  them  all.  He  is  writing  for 
the  business  man  in  his  office,  for  the  wife  in  the 
home,  for  the  ignorant,  for  the  highly  educated,  for 
the  rich  and  the  poor,  for  the  old  and  the  young,  for 
doctors,  lawyers,  bankers,  laborers,  ministers,  and 
women.  All  of  them  buy  his  paper  to  hear  the  latest 
news  told  in  a  way  that  interests  them,  and  he  has 
to  cater  to  each  and  to  all  of  them.  If  he  were 
simply  writing  for  business  men  he  would  give  them 
many  columns  of  financial  news,  but  that  would  not 
interest  tired  laborers.  An  extended  account  of  the 
doings  of  a  Presbyterian  convention  would  not  at- 
tract the  great  class  of  men  with  sporting  inclina- 
tions, and  a  story  of  a  very  pretty  exhibition  of 
scientific  boxing  would  not  appeal  to  the  wife  at 
home.  They  all  buy  the  paper,  and  they  all  want  to 
be  interested,  and  the  paper  must,  therefore,  print 
stories  that  interest  at  least  the  majority  of  them. 
That  is  the  question  of  news  values.  The  news 
must  be  the  account  of  the  latest  events  that  in- 
terest the  greatest  number  of  readers  of  all  classes. 
This  search  for  the  universally-interesting  news 
is  the  reason  behind  the  sensational  papers.  Al- 
though the  interests  of  any  individual  differ  in  al- 
most every  aspect  from  the  interests  of  his  neighbor, 
there  is  one  sort  of  news  that  interests  them  both, 
that  interests  every  human  being.  That  is  the  news 

17 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

that  appeals  to  the  emotions,  to  the  heart.  It  is  the 
news  that  deals  with  human  life — human  nature — 
human  interest  news  the  papers  call  it.  In  it  every 
human  being  is  interested.  However  trivial  may  be 
the  event,  if  it  can  be  described  in  a  way  that  will 
make  the  reader  feel  the  point  of  view  of  the  human 
beings  who  suffered  or  struggled  or  died  .or  who 
were  made  happy  in  the  event,  every  other  human 
being  will  read  it  with  interest.  Human  sympathy 
makes  one  want  to  feel  joy  and  pain  from  the  stand- 
point of  others.  Naturally  that  sort  of  news  is  al- 
ways read;  naturally  the  paper  that  devotes  itself 
to  such  news  is  always  read  and  is  always  successful 
as  far  as  circulation  and  profits  go.  The  papers  that 
have  that  ideal  of  news  behind  them  and  forsake 
every  other  ideal  for  it  are  called  sensational  papers. 
Whether  they  are  good  or  not  is  another  question. 

With  this  idea  of  what  news  values  means  and 
the  idea  that  news  is  worth  while  only  when  it  in- 
terests the  largest  number  of  people  of  all  classes, 
we  may  try  to  look  for  the  things  that  make  news 
interesting  to  the  greatest  number  of  people  of  all 
classes.  The  reporter  must  know  not  only  what 
news  is,  but  what  makes  it  news.  He  must  be  able 
to  see  the  things  in  a  story  that  will  interest  the 
greatest  number  of  people  of  all  classes.  These  are 
many  and  intricate.. 

18 


NEWS   VALUES 

2.  Timeliness. — In  the  first  place,  news  must  be 
new.  A  story  must  have  timeliness.  Our  readers 
want  to  know  what  happened  to-day,  for  yesterday 
and  last  week  are  past  and  gone.  They  want  to  be 
up  to  the  minute  in  their  information  on  current 
events.  Therefore  a  story  that  is  worth  printing  to- 
day will  not  be  worth  printing  to-morrow  or,  at 
most,  on  the  day  after  to-morrow.  Events  must  be 
chronicled  just  as  soon  as  they  happen.  Further- 
more, the  story  itself  must  show  that  it  is  new.  It 
must  tell  the  reader  at  once  that  the  event  which  it 
is  chronicling  happened  to-day  or  last  night — 
at  least  since  the  last  edition  of  the  paper.  That  is 
why  the  reporter  must  never  fail  to  put  the  time  in 
the  introduction  of  his  story.  Editors  grow  gray- 
headed  trying  to  keep  up  with  the  swift  passing  of 
events,  and  they  are  always  very  careful  to  tell  their 
readers  that  the  events  which  they  are  chronicling 
are  the  latest  events.  That  is  the  reason  why  every 
editor  hates  the  word  "yesterday"  and  tries  to  get 
"to-day"  or  "this  morning"  into  the  lead  of  every 
story.  Hence,  to  the  newspaper,  everything  that 
happened  since  midnight  last  night  is  labeled  "this 
morning,"  and  everything  that  happened  since  six 
o'clock  yesterday  afternoon  is  labeled  "last  night." 
Anything  before  that  hour  must  be  labeled  "yester- 
day," but  it  goes  in  as  "late  yesterday  afternoon," 
3  19 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

if  it  possibly  can.  Hence  the  first  principle  of  news 
values  is  timeliness — news  is  news  only  because  it 
just  happened  and  can  be  spoken  of  as  one  of  the 
events  of  "to-day"  or  of  "late  yesterday." 

3.  Distance. — Distance  is  another  factor  in  news 
values.  In  spite  of  fast  trains  and  electric  telegraphs 
human  beings  are  clannish  and  local  in  their  inter- 
ests. They  are  interested  mainly  in  things  and  per- 
sons that  they  know,  and  news  from  outside  their 
ken  must  be  of  unusual  significance  to  attract  them. 
They  like  to  read  about  things  that  they  have  seen 
and  persons  that  they  know,  because  they  are  slow 
to  exert  their  imaginations  enough  to  appreciate 
things  that  they  do  not  know  personally.  Hence 
every  newspaper  is  primarily  local,  even  though  it  is 
a  metropolitan  daily,  and  news  from  a  distance  plays 
a  very  subordinate  part.  It  has  been  said  that  New 
York  papers  cannot  see  beyond  the  Alleghanies ;  it  is 
equally  true  that  most  papers  cannot  see  more 
than  a  hundred  miles  from  the  printing  office, 
except  in  the  case  of  national  news.  Any 
newspaper's  range  of  news  sources  goes  out 
from  the  editorial  room  in  concentric  circles. 
Purely  personal  news  must  come  from  within 
the  range  of  the  paper's  general  circulation, 
because  people  do  not  care  to  read  purely  personal 
news  about  persons  whom  they  do  not  know.  Other 

20 


9          NEWS    VALUES 

news  is  limited  ordinarily  to  the  region  with  which 
the  paper's  readers  are  personally  acquainted — the 
state,  perhaps — because  subscribers  unconsciously 
wish  to  hear  about  places  with  which  they  are  per- 
sonally acquainted.  Any  news  that  comes  from 
outside  this  larger  circle  must  be  nation-wide  or  very 
unusual  in  its  interest.  A  story  that  may  be  worth 
a  column  in  El  Paso,  Texas,  would  not  be  worth 
printing  in  New  York  because  El  Paso  is  hardly 
more  than  a  name  to  most  New  York  newspaper 
readers.  In  the  same  way,  the  biggest  stories  in 
New  York  are  not  worth  anything  in  Texas,  because 
Texas  readers  are  not  personally  interested  in  New 
York — they  cannot  say,  "Yes,  I  know  that  building ; 
I  walked  down  that  street  the  other  day;  oh,  you 
can't  tell  me  anything  about  the  subway."  News  is 
primarily  local,  and  the  first  thing  a  correspondent 
must  learn  is  how  to  distinguish  the  stories  that  are 
purely  local  in  their  interest  from  those  that  would 
be  worth  printing  a  hundred  miles  away  in  a  paper 
read  by  people  who  do  not  know  the  places  or  per- 
sons involved  in  the  story.  Colonel  Smith  may  be 
a  very  big  frog  in  the  little  puddle  of  Smith's  Cor- 
ners, and  his  doings  may  be  big  news  to  the  week- 
lies all  over  his  county,  but  he  has  to  do  something 
very  unusual  before  his  name  is  worth  a  line  in  a 
paper  two  counties  away.  He  is  nothing  but  a 

21 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

name  to  people  who  do  not  know  him  or  know  of 
him,  and  therefore  they  are  not  interested  in  him. 
Every  correspondent  must  watch  for  the  stories 
that  have  something  more  than  a  local  interest,  some 
element  of  news  in  them  that  will  carry  them  over 
the  obstacle  of  distance  and  make  them  interesting 
to  any  reader. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  analyze  news  values  to 
the  extent  of  telling  every  conceivable  element  of 
interest  that  will  overcome  the  obstacle  of  distance. 
Yet  there  are  certain  elements  that  always  make  a 
newspaper  story  interesting  to  any  one. 

4.  Loss  of  life. — One  of  these  is  the  loss  of  hu- 
man life.  For  some  strange  reason  every  human 
being  is  interested  in  the  thought  of  death.  Just 
as  soon  as  a  story  mentions  death  it  is  worth  print- 
ing, and  if  it  has  a  number  of  deaths  to  tell  about 
it  is  worth  printing  anywhere.  Any  fire,  any  rail- 
road wreck,  or  any  other  disaster  in  which  a  number 
of  persons  are  killed  or  injured  makes  a  story  that 
is  worth  sending  anywhere.  There  seems  to  be  a 
joy  for  the  reader  in  the  mere  number  of  fatalities. 
A  story  that  can  begin  with  "Ten  people  were 
killed,"  or  "Seven  men  met  their  death,"  attracts  a 
reader's  interest  at  once.  As  a  very  natural  result, 
and  justly,  too,  newspapers  have  been  broadly  ac- 
cused of  exaggeration  for  the  sake  of  a  large  num- 

22 


NEWS   VALUES 

her.  But  at  present  many  papers  are  inclined  to 
underestimate  rather  than  overestimate,  perhaps  to 
avoid  this  accusation.  In  a  number  of  instances  in 
the  past  year,  among  them  the  Shirtwaist  Factory 
fire  in  New  York,  the  first  figures  were  smaller  than 
the  official  count  printed  later.  That  does  not  mean, 
however,  that  newspapers  do  not  want  stories  in- 
volving loss  of  life.  Any  story  which  involves  a 
large  number  of  fatalities  will  carry  a  long  distance, 
if  for  no  other  reason. 

5.  Big  Names. — Another  element  of  news  values  is 
the  interest  in  prominent  people.    The  mere  mention 
of  a  man  or  a  woman  who  is  known  widely  attracts 
attention.    Although  Colonel  Smith  of  Smith's  Cor- 
ners has  to  do  something  very  unusual  to  get  his 
name  in  any  paper  outside  his  county,  the  slightest 
thing  that  President  Taft  does  is  printed  in  every 
paper  in  the  country.     It  is  simply  because  of  our 
interest  in  the  man  himself.     Some  names  give  a 
story  news  value  because   the   names   are   widely 
known  politically  or  financially,  some  names  because 
they  are  simply  notorious.     But  any  name  that  is 
recognized  at  once,  for  any  reason,  gives  a  story 
news  value. 

6.  Property  Loss. — Akin  to  man's  love  for  any  ac- 
count that  involves  large  loss  of  human  life,  is  his 
love  of  any  story  that  tells  about  a  huge  loss  of 

23 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

property.  The  mere  figures  seem  to  have  a  charm ; 
any  story  that  can  begin  with  awesome  figures,  like 
"Two  million  dollars,"  "One  hundred  automobiles," 
"Ten  city  blocks,"  has  news  value.  Hence  any  story 
that  involves  a  large  loss  that  can  be  expressed  in 
figures  has  the  power  to  carry  a  great  distance. 

7.  Unusualness. — It  is  safe  to  say  that  newspaper 
readers  are  interested  in  anything  unusual.     It  does 
not  matter  whether  it  is  a  thing,  a  person,  an  action, 
a  misfortune ;  so  long  as  it  is  strange  and  out  of  the 
range  of  ordinary  lives,  it  is  interesting.     Many,  if 
not  most,  newspaper  stories  have  nothing  but  the 
element  of  strangeness  in  them  to  give  them  news 
value,  but  if  they  are  sufficiently  strange  and  un- 
usual they  may  be  copied  all  over  the  country.    An 
unusual  origin  or  an  unusual  rescue  will  give  an  un- 
important fire  great  news  value.    And  so  with  every 
other  kind  of  story. 

8.  Human  Interest.  — Along  with  the  element  of  the 
strange  and  unusual,  goes  the  human  interest  ele- 
ment.    Any  story  that  will  make  us  laugh  or  make 
us  cry  has  news  value*    Hundreds  of  magazines  are 
issued  monthly  with  nothing  in  them  but  fictitious 
stories  that  are  intended  to  arouse  our  emotions,  and 
newspapers  are  beginning  to  realize  that  they  can 
interest  their  readers  in  the  same  way.    No  life  is  so 
prosaic  that  it  is  not  full  of  incidents  that  make  one 

24 


NEWS   VALUES 

laugh  or  cry,  and  when  these  stories  can  be  told  in 
a  way  that  will  make  any  reader  feel  the  same  emo- 
tions, they  have  news  value  that  will  carry  them  a 
long  distance.  Obviously  their  success  depends  very 
largely  upon  the  way  they  are  told. 

9.  Personal  Appeal. — Another  element  that  may 
give  a  story  news  value  is  that  of  personal  appeal  or 
application  to  the  reader's  own  daily  life.  Men  are 
primarily  egoistic  and  selfish  and  nothing  interests 
them  more  than  things  that  affect  them  personally. 
They  can  read  complacently  and  without  interest  of 
the  misfortunes  and  joys  of  others,  but  just  as  soon 
as  anything  affects  their  own  daily  lives,  even  a 
little,  they  want  to  hear  about  it.  Perhaps  the  price 
of  butter  has  gone  up  a  few  cents  or  the  gas  com- 
pany has  reduced  its  rates  from  eighty  cents  to 
seventy-seven.  Every  reader  is  interested  at  once, 
for  the  news  affects  his  own  daily  life.  Sometimes 
this  personal  appeal  is  due  merely  to  the  reader's 
familiarity  with  the  persons  or  places  mentioned  in 
the  story;  sometimes  it  is  due  to  the  story's  appli- 
cation to  his  business  life,  his  social  or  religious  ac- 
tivities, or  to  any  phase  of  his  daily  existence.  That 
is  the  reason  why  political  news  interests  every  one, 
for  we  all  feel  that  the  management  of  the  govern- 
ment has  an  influence  on  our  own  lives.  The  story 
of  any  political  maneuver — especially  if  it  is  one 

25 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

that  may  be  looked  upon  as  bad  or  good — carries 
farther  than  any  other  story.  Show  that  your  story 
tells  of  something  that  has  even  the  slightest  effect 
on  the  lives  of  a  large  number  of  people  and  it  needs 
no  other  element  to  give  it  news  value. 

10.  Local  Reasons. — These  factors  and  many  others 
give  news  stories  a  news  value  that  will  carry  them 
a  long  distance  and  make  them  interesting  in  com- 
munities far  from  their  source.  Many  local  reasons 
may  enhance  the  value  of  a  story  for  local  papers. 
A  paper's  policy  or  some  campaign  that  it  is  waging 
may  give  an  otherwise  unimportant  event  a  tremen- 
dous significance.  If  an  unimportant  person  is 
slightly  injured  while  leaving  a  trolley  car  the  story 
is  hardly  worth  a  line  of  type.  But  if  such  an  item 
should  come  to  a  newspaper  while  it  is  carrying  on 
a  campaign  against  the  local  street  railway  company, 
the  story  would  probably  be  written  and  printed  in 
great  detail.  Any  slight  occurrence  that  may  be  in 
line  with  a  paper's  political  beliefs  would  receive  an 
amount  of  space  far  out  of  proportion  with  its  or- 
dinary news  worth.  News  value  is  a  very  change- 
able and  indefinite  thing,  and  there  are  countless 
reasons  why  any  given  story  should  be  of  interest  to 
a  large  number  of  readers.  And  the  possibility  of 
interesting  a  large  number  of  readers  is  the  basis  of 
news  value. 

26 


NEWS   VALUES 

11.  The  Feature — In  connection  with  the  study  of 
news  values  the  question  of  feature  is  important.  In 
editorial  offices  one  is  constantly  hearing  the  word 
"feature,"  and  reporters  are  constantly  admonished 
to  "play  up  the  feature"  of  their  stories.  Feature  is 
the  word  that  editors  use  to  signify  the  essence  of 
news  value.  Every  story  that  is  printed  is  printed 
because  of  some  fact  in  it  that  makes  it  interesting — 
gives  it  news  value.  The  element  in  the  story  that 
makes  it  interesting  and  worth  printing  is  the  fea- 
ture. The  feature  may  be  some  prominent  name,  a 
large  list  of  fatalities,  a  significant  amount  of  prop- 
erty destroyed,  or  merely  the  unusualness  of  the  in- 
cident. This  feature  is  the  element  that  makes  the 
story  news;  therefore  it  is  used  to  attract  attention 
to  the  story.  Every  newspaper  story  displays  like  a 
placard  in  its  headlines  the  reason  why  it  was 
printed — the  element  in  it  that  makes  it  interesting. 
"Playing  up  the  feature"  is  simply  the  act  of  bring- 
ing this  feature  to  the  front  so  that  it  will  attract  at- 
tention to  the  story.  Just  how  this  is  done  we  shall 
see  later.  But  when,  as  a  reporter,  you  are  looking 
for  a  feature  to  play  up  in  your  lead,  remember  that 
the  feature  to  be  played  up  is  the  thing  in  the  story 
that  gives  the  story  news  value.  And  few  stories 
have  more  than  one  claim  to  news  value,  more  than 
one  feature. 

27 


Ill 

NEWSPAPER   TERMS 

The  newspaper  vernacular  that  is  used  in  the  edi- 
torial and  press  rooms  of  any  daily  paper  is  a  curious 
mixture  of  literary  abbreviations  and  technical  print- 
ing terms.  It  is  the  result  of  the  strange  mingling 
of  the  literary  trade  of  writing  with  the  mechanical 
trade  of  setting  type.  For  that  reason  a  green  re- 
porter has  difficulty  in  understanding  the  instruc- 
tions that  he  receives  until  he  has  been  in  the  office 
long  enough  to  learn  the  office  slang.  It  would  be 
impossible  to  list  all  of  the  expressions  that  might 
be  heard  in  one  day,  but  a  knowledge  of  the  com- 
monest words  will  enable  a  reporter  to  get  the  drift 
of  his  editor's  instructions. 

When  a  young  man  secures  a  position  as  reporter 
for  a  newspaper  he  begins  as  a  cub  reporter  and  is 
usually  said  to  be  on  the  staff  of  his  paper.  His 
sphere  of  activity  is  confined  to  the  editorial  room, 
where  the  news  is  written;  his  relations  .with  the 
business  office,  where  advertising,  circulation,  and 

28 


NEWSPAPER   TERMS 

other  business  matters  are  handled,  consists  of  the 
weekly  duty  of  drawing  his  pay.  His  chief  enemies 
are  in  the  printing  office  where  his  literary  efforts  are 
set  up  in  type  and  printed.  His  superiors  are  called 
editors  and  exist  in  varying  numbers,  depending 
upon  the  size  of  his  paper.  The  man  who  directs  the 
reporters  is  usually  called  the  city  editor,  or  perhaps 
the  day  or  night  city  editor;  above  him  there  are 
managing  editors  and  other  persons  in  authority 
with  whom  the  cub  is  not  concerned ;  and  the  favored 
mortals  who  enjoy  a  room  by  themselves  and  write 
nothing  but  editorials  are  called  editors  or  editorial 
writers.  There  may  also  be  a  telegraph  editor,  a 
sporting  editor,  a  Sunday  editor,  and  many  other 
editors ;  or  if  the  paper  is  small  and  poor  all  of  these 
editors  may  be  condensed  into  one  very  busy  man. 
On  a  city  daily  of  average  size  there  are  desk  men, 
or  copyreaders,  who  work  under  editorial  direction 
but  feel  superior  to  the  reporter  because  they  correct 
his  literary  efforts. 

The  reporter's  work  consists  of  gathering  and 
writing  news.  In  the  office  this  is  called  covering 
and  writing  stories.  He  is  ordinarily  put  on  a  beat, 
or  run;  this  is  simply  a  daily  route  or  round  of  news 
sources  which  he  follows  as  regularly  as  a  policeman 
walks  his  beat.  The  reporter's  work  on  a  special 
story  outside  his  beat  is  called  an  assignment.  Any 

29 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

hint  that  he  may  receive  concerning  a  bit  of  news 
is  called  a  tip.  Any  bit  of  news  that  he  secures  to 
the  exclusion  of  his  paper's  rivals  is  called  a  beat, 
or  a  scoop. 

Everything  that  is  written  for  the  paper,  whether 
it  be  a  two-line  personal  item  or  a  two-column  re- 
port, is  called  a  story,  or  a  yarn,  and  from  the  time 
the  story  is  written  until  it  appears  in  the  printed 
paper  it  is  called  copy.  If  the  story  is  well  written 
and  needs  few  corrections  it.  is  called  clean  copy. 
After  the  story  is  written  it  is  turned  over  to  the 
copyreader  to  be  edited.  The  copyreader  corrects  it 
and  writes  the  headlines  or  heads;  then  he  sends  it  to 
the  composing  room  to  be  set  in  type  by  the  com- 
positor. The  story  itself  is  usually  set  up  on  a  lino- 
type machine  and  the  heads  are  set  up  by  hand.  For 
the  sake  of  keeping  the  two  parts  of  the  copy  to- 
gether the  reporter  or  the  copyreader  ordinarily 
gives  the  story  a  name,  such  as  "Fire  No.  2" ;  the  bit 
of  lead  on  which  the  name  is  printed  is  called  a  slug 
and  the  story  is  said  to  be  slugged.  If  at  any  time  in 
its  journey  from  the  reporter's  pencil  to  the  printed 
page,  the  editor  decides  not  to  print  the  story,  he 
kills  it;  otherwise  he  runs  it,  or  allows  it  to  go  into 
the  paper.  When  the  story  is  in  type,  an  impression, 
or  proof,  is  taken  of  it,  and  this  proof,  still  called 
copy,  comes  back  to  the  copyreader  or  the  proof- 

30 


NEWSPAPER   TERMS 

reader  for  the  correction  of  typographical  errors. 
The  gathering  together  of  all  of  the  day's  stories 
into  the  form  of  the  final  printed  page  is  called  mak- 
ing up  the  paper;  this  is  usually  done  by  some  one 
of  the  editors.  In  like  manner,  the  finished  aspect 
of  the  paper  is  called  the  make-up. 

Some  stories  are  said  to  be  big  stories  because  of 
unusual  news  value.  When  any  news  comes  unex- 
pectedly it  is  said  to  break;  and  when  any  story 
comes  in  beforehand  and  must  be  held  over,  it  is 
said  to  be  released  on  the  day  on  which  it  may  be 
printed.  The  first  paragraph  of  any  story  is  called 
the  lead  (pronounced  "leed") ;  the  word  lead  is  also 
used  to  designate  several  introductory  paragraphs 
that  are  tacked  on  at  the  beginning  of  a  long  story, 
which  may  be  of  the  nature  of  a  running  story  (as 
the  running  story  of  a  football  game),  or  may  be 
made  up  of  several  parts,  written  by  one  or  more 
reporters.  In  general,  that  part  of  a  story  which 
presents  the  gist  or  summary  of  the  entire  story  at 
the  beginning  is  called  the  lead.  The  most  interest- 
ing thing  in  the  story,  the  part  that  gives  it  news 
value,  is  called  the  feature,  and  playing  up  the  feat- 
ure consists  in  telling  the  most  interesting  thing  in 
the  first  line  of  the  lead  or  in  the  headline.  An  en- 
tire story  is  said  to  be  played  up  if  it  is  given  a 
prominent  place  in  the  paper.  A  feature  story  is 

31 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

either  a  story  that  is  thus  played  up  or  a  story  that 
is  written  for  some  other  reason  than  news  value, 
such  as  human  interest.  When  a  story  is  rewritten 
to  give  a  new  interest  to  old  facts  it  is  called  a  re- 
write Story;  when  it  is  rewritten  to  include  new 
facts  or  developments,  it  is  called  a  follow-up,  sec- 
ond-day, or  follow  story. 

Because  of  the  close  relation  between  the  editorial 
room  and  the  printing  office  many  printing  terms  are 
commonly  heard  about  the  editorial  room,.  All  copy 
is  measured  by  the  column  and  by  the  stickful.  A 
column  is  usually  a  little  less  than  1,500  words  and  a 
stickful  is  the  amount  of  type  that  can  be  set  in  a 
compositor's  stick,  the  metal  frame  used  in  setting 
type  by  hand — about  two  inches  or  100  words.  A 
bit  of  copy  that  is  set  up  with  a  border  or  a  row  of 
stars  about  it  is  said  to  be  boxed.  Whenever  copy 
is  set  with  extra  space  between  the  lines  it  is  said 
to  be  leaded  (pronounced  "leded") — the  name  is 
taken  from  the  piece  of  lead  that  is  placed  between 
the  lines  of  type.  The  reporter  must  gradually  learn 
the  names  of  the  various  kinds  of  type  and  the  vari- 
ous proofreader's  signs  that  are  used  to  indicate  the 
way  in  which  the  type  is  to  be  set,  for  the  whole 
work  of  writing  the  news  is  governed  and  limited  by 
the  mechanical  possibilities  of  the  printing  office. 
The  commonest  signs  used  by  the  proofreader  or  the 

32 


NEWSPAPER   TERMS 

copyreader,  together  with  instructions  for  preparing 
copy,  are  given  in"  the  Style  Book  at  the  end  of  this 
volume.  (A  complete  list  of  proofreader's  signs 
can  be  found  in  the  back  of  any  large  dictionary.) 
Style  is  a  word  which  editors  use  to  cover  a  multi- 
tude of  rules,  arbitrary  or  otherwise,  concerning 
capitalization,  punctuation,  abbreviation,  etc.  A  pa- 
per that  uses  many  capital  letters  is  said  to  follow  an 
up  style,  and  a  paper  that  uses  small  letters  instead 
of  capitals  whenever  there  is  a  choice  is  said  to  fol- 
low a  down  style.  Every  newspaper  has  its  own 
style  and  usually  prints  its  rules  in  a  Style  Book; 
the  Style  Book  given  in  this  volume  has  been  com- 
piled from  many  representative  newspaper  style 
books.  It  sets  forth  an  average  style  and  the  be- 
ginner is  advised  to  follow  it  closely  in  his  practice 
writing — for,  as  editors  say,  "uniformity  is  better 
than  a  strict  following  of  style." 


IV 
THE   NEWS    STORY   FORM 

When  we  come  to  the  writing  of  the  news  we  find 
that  there  are  many  sorts  of  stories  that  must  be 
written.  In  the  newspaper  office  they  are  called 
simply  stories  without  distinction.  For  the  purpose 
of  study  they  may  be  classified  to  some  extent,  but 
this  classification  must  not  be  taken  as  hard  and  fast. 
The  commonest  kind  of  story  is  the  simple  news 
story.  Practically  all  newspaper  reports  are  news 
stories,  but  as  distinguished  from  other  kinds  of 
reports  the  simple  news  story  is  the  report  of  some 
late  event  or  occurrence.  It  is  usually  concerned 
with  unexpected  news,  and  is  the  commonest  kind  of 
story  in  any  newspaper.  It  is  to  be  distinguished 
from  reports  of  speeches,  interview  stories,  court 
reports,  social  news,  dramatic  news,  sporting  news, 
human-interest  stories,  and  all  the  rest.  The  dis- 
tinction is  largely  one  of  form  and  does  not  exist 
to  any  great  extent  in  a  newspaper  office  where  all 
stories  are  simply  "stones." 

34 


THE    NEWS    STORY    FORM 

The  simple  news  story  is  probably  the  most  vari- 
able part  of  a  newspaper.  Given  the  same  facts,  each 
individual  reporter  will  write  the  story  in  his  in- 
dividual way  and  each  editor  will  change  it  to  suit 
his  individual  taste.  No  two  newspapers  have  ex- 
actly the  same  ideal  form  of  news  story  and  no 
newspaper  is  able  to  live  up  to  its  individual  ideal  in 
each  story. 

But  there  are  generaj  tendencies.  Certain  things 
are  true  of  all  news  stories;  whether  the  story  be 
the  baldest  recital  of  facts  or  the  most  sensational 
featuring  of  an  imaginary  thrill  in  a  commonplace 
happening,  \certain  characteristics  are  always  present. 
And  these  characteristics  can  always  be  traced  to 
one  cause — the  effort  to  catch  and  hold  the  reader's 
interest.  When  a  busy  American  glances  over  his 
newspaper  while  he  sips  his  breakfast  coffee  or  while 
he  clings  to  a  strap  on  the  way  to  his  office,  he  reads 
only  the  stories  that  catch  his  interest — and  he  reads 
down  the  column  in  any  one  story  only  so  long  as  his 
interest  is  maintained.  Hence  the  ideal  news  story 
is  one  which  will  catch  the  reader's  attention  by  its 
beginning  and  hold  his  interest  to  the  very  end. 
This  is  the  principle  of  all  newspaper  writing. 

The  interest  depends,  in  a  large  measure,  on  the 
way  the  facts  are  presented.  True,  certain  facts  are 
in  themselves  more  interesting  to  a  casual  reader 

4  35 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

than  others,  but  just  as  truly  other  less  interesting 
facts  may  be  made  as  interesting  through  the  report- 
er's skill.  The  most  interesting  of  stories  may  lose 
its  interest  if  poorly  presented,  and  facts  of  the  most 
commonplace  nature  may  be  made  attractive  enough 
to  hold  the  reader  to  the  last  word.  The  aim  of 
every  reporter  and  of  every  editor  is  to  make  every 
story  so  attractive  and  interesting  that  the  most 
casual  reader  cannot  resist  reading  it. 

In  the  old  days  news  stories  were  written  in  the 
logical  order  of  events  just  like  any  other  narrative, 
but  constant  change  has  brought  about  a  new  form, 
as  different  and  individual  as  any  other  form  of  ex- 
pression, njnlike  any  other  imaginable  piece  of 
writing,  the  news  story  discloses  its  most  interesting 
facts  first.  /  It  does  not  lead  the  reader  up  to  a 
startling  bit  of  news  by  a  tantalizing  suspense  in  an 
effort  to  build  up  a  surprise  for  him ;  it  tells  its  most 
thrilling  content  first  and  trusts  to  his  interest  to 
lead  him  on  through  the  details  that  should  logically 
precede  the  real  news.  Therefore  every  editor  ad- 
monishes his  reporters  "to  give  the  gist  of  the  news 
first  and  the  details  later." 

There  are  other  reasons  for  this  peculiar  reversal 
of  the  logical  order  of  narrative.  (  Few  readers  have 
time  to  read  the  whole  of  every  story,  and  yet  they 
want  to  get  the  news — in  the  shortest  possible  time. 

36 


THE   NEWS    STORY    FORM 

Therefore  the  newspaper  very  kindly  tells  the  im- 
portant part  of  each  story  at  the  beginning.  Then 
if  the  reader  cares  to  hear  the  details  he  can  read  the 
rest  of  the  story;  but  he  gets  the  news,  anyway. 
Again,  if  the  exigencies  of  making  up  the  stories 
into  a  paper  of  mechanically  limited  space  require 
that  a  story  be  cut  down,  the  editor  may  slash  off  a 
paragraph  or  two  at  the  end  without  depriving  the 
story  of  its  interest.  Imagine  the  difficulty  of  cut- 
ting down  a  story  that  is  told  in  its  logical  order! 
If  the  real  news  of  the  story  were  in  the  last  para- 
graph it  would  go  in  the  slashing,  and  what  would 
be  left?  Whereas,  if  the  gist  of  the  story  comes 
first  the  editor  may  run  any  number  of  paragraphs 
or  even  the  first  paragraph  alone  and  still  have  a 
complete  story. 

The  arrangement  of  news  stories  in  American 
newspapers  is  thus  a  very  natural  one,  resulting 
from  the  exigencies  of  the  business.  Just  how  to  fit 
every  story  to  this  arrangement  is  a  difficult  task. 
However,  there  are  certain  rules  that  the  reporter 
may  apply  to  each  story,  and  these  are  very  simple. 

/  In  the  first  place,  almost  every  story  has  a  feature 
— there  is  some  one  thing  in  it  that  is  out  of  the  or- 
dinary, something  that  gives  it  interest  and  news 
value  beyond  the  interest  in  the  incident  behind  it. 
No  two  stories  have  the  same  interesting  features; 

37 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

if  they  had,  only  one  of  them  would  be  worth  print- 
ing and  that  would  be  the  first.  This  extraordinary 
feature  the  reporter  must  see  at  once.  If  a  building 
burns  he  must  see  quickly  what  incident  in  the  oc- 
currence will  be  of  interest  to  readers  who  are  read- 
ing of  many  fires  every  day.  If  John  Smith  falls  off 
a  street  car  the  reporter  must  discover  some  inter- 
esting fact  in  connection  with  Mr.  Smith's  misfor- 
tune that  will  be  new  and  attractive  to  readers  who 
do  not  know  John  and  are  bored  with  accounts  of 
other  Smiths'  accidents,  f  The  accident  itself  may 
be  interesting,  but  the  part  of  the  accident  that  is  out 
of  the  ordinary — the  thing  that  gives  the  accident 
news  value — is  the  feature  of  the  story,  and  the 
reporter  must  tell  it  first. 

Thoroughly  determined  to  tell  the  most  interesting 
part,  the  gist,  of  his  story  in  the  first  paragraph,  the 
reporter  must  remember  that  there  are  certain  other 
things  about  the  incident  that  the  reader  wants  to 
know  just  as  quickly.  There  are  certain  questions 
which  arise  in  the  reader's  mind  when  the  occurrence 
is  suggested,  and  these  questions  must  be  answered 
as  quickly  as  they  are  asked.  The  questions  usually 
take  the  form  of  when?  where?  what?  who?  how? 
why?  If  a  man  falls  off  the  street  car  we  are  eager 
to  know  at  once  who  he  was,  although  we  probably 
do  not  know  him,  anyway ;  where  it  happened ;  when 

38 


THE   NEWS    STORY    FORM 

it.  happened;  how  he  fell;  and  why  he  fell.  If  there 
is  a  fire  we  immediately  ask  what  burned;  where  it 
was;  when  it  burned;  how  it  burned;  and  what 
caused  it  to  burn.  And  the  reporter  must  answer 
these  questions  with  the  same  breath  that  tells  us 
that  a  man  fell  off  the  car  or  that  there  was  any  fire 
at  all. 

The  effort  to  answer  these  questions  at  once  has 
led  to  the  peculiar  form  of  introduction  character- 
istic of  every  newspaper  story.  Newspaper  people 
rail  jt  thp  lead  It  is  really  nothing  but  the  state- 
ment of  the  briefest  possible  answers  to  all  these 
questions  in  one  sentence  or  one  short  paragraph. 
It  tells  the  whole  story  in  its  baldest  aspects  and  aims 
to  satisfy  the  reader  who  wants  only  the  gist  of  the 
story  and  does  not  care  for  the  details.  When  all 
his  questions  have  been  answered  in  one  breath  he 
is  ready  to  read  the  details  one  at  a  time,  but  he 
won't  be  satisfied  if  he  must  read  all  about  how  the 
fire  was  discovered  before  he  is  told  what  building 
burned,  when  it  burned,  etc.  For  example : 


Fire  of  unknown  origin  caused  the 
practical  destruction  of  the  famous  old 
"Crow's  Nest,"  at  Tenth  and  Cedar 
streets,  perhaps  the  best  known  and 
oldest  landmark  in  the  Second  ward, 
yesterday  afternoon. — Milwaukee  Free 
Press. 

39 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

This  is  the  lead  of  an  ordinary  news  story — a 
newspaper  report  of  a  fire.  The  lead  begins  with 
"Fire"  because  the  story  has  no  unusual  feature — 
no  element  in  it  that  is  more  interesting  than  the 
fact  that  there  was  a  fire.  The  reporter  considers 
"Fire"  the  most  important  part  of  his  story  and  be- 
gins with  it.  As  soon  as  we  read  the  word  "Fire" 
we  ask,  "When  ?"  —  "Where  ?"  —  "What  ?"  - 
"Why?" — "How?"  The  reporter  answers  us  in 
the  same  sentence  with  his  announcement,  "yester- 
day afternoon"— "at  Tenth  and  Cedar  Streets"— 
"the  famous  old  'Crow's  Nest,'  perhaps  the  best 
known  and  oldest  landmark  in  the  Second  ward"- 
"unknown  origin."  Haw  is  not  worth  answering, 
in  this  case,  beyond  the  statement  that  the  destruc- 
tion was  practically  complete.  Thus  the  reporter 
has  told  us  his  bit  of  news  and  answered  our  most 
obvious  questions  about  it  at  the  very  beginning  of 
his  story — in  one  sentence.  According  to  newspa- 
per rules  this  is  a  good  lead.  The  order  of  the  an- 
swers will  be  considered  later.  For  the  present  we 
are  concerned  only  with  the  facts  that  the  lead  must 
contain. 


THE   SIMPLE   FIRE   STORY 

The  simplest  news  story  is  the  story  which  has  no 
feature — which  has  no  fact  in  it  more  important 
than  the  incident  which  it  reports — e.g.,  the  fire  at 
the  end  of  the  last  chapter.  If  we  recall  the  various 
elements  of  news  value  we  note  that  any  incident 
may  be  given  greater  news  value  by  the  presence  of 
some  unusual  or  interesting  feature — a  great  loss  of 
life,  an  unusual  time,  a  strikingly  large  loss  of  prop- 
erty, or  simply  a  well-known  name.  Such  a  story  is 
called  a  story  with  a  feature,  because  its  interest  de- 
pends not  so  much  on  the  incident  itself  as  upon  the 
unusual  feature  within  the  incident.  On  the  other 
hand,  many  news  stories  do  not  have  features.  Many 
stories  are  worth  printing  simply  because  of  the  in- 
cident which  they  report,  without  any  unusual  feat- 
ure within  them.  For  example,  a  building  may  burn 
with  no  loss  of  life,  no  great  loss  of  property,  and 
no  striking  occurrence  in  connection  with  the  burn- 
ing. Such  a  fire  is  worth  reporting,  but  there  is  no 

41 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 


fact  in  the  story  more  interesting-  than  the  fact  that 
there  was  a  fire ;  the  story  has  no  feature. 

The  leads  of  these  two  kinds  of  stories  are  dif- 
ferent. When  a  story  has  a  feature  it  is  customary 
to  play  up  that  feature  in  the  first  line  of  the  lead. 
If  the  story  has  no  feature,  is  simply  the  record  of  a 
commonplace  event,  the  lead  merely  announces  the 
incident  and  answers  the  reader's  questions  about  it. 

The  commonest  of  featureless  stories  is  the  simple 
fire  story  in  which  nothing  out  of  the  ordinary  hap- 
pens, no  one  is  killed,  no  striking  rescues  take  place, 
and  no  tremendous  amount  of  property  is  destroyed. 
This  may  be  taken  as  typical  of  all  featureless  stories. 
The  reporter,  in  writing  a  report  of  such  a  fire, 
merely  answers  in  the  lead  the  questions  when, 
where,  what,  why,  and  perhaps  how,  that  the  reader 
asks  concerning  the  fire.  The  most  striking  part 
of  the  story  is  that  there  was  a  fire ;  hence  the  story 
begins  with  "Fire."  For  example : 


Fire  today  wrecked  the  top  of  the 
six-story  warehouse  at  393  to  395 
Washington  street,  used  by  the  United 
States  army  as  a  medical  supply  store- 
room for  the  Department  of  the  East. 
Capt.  Edwin  Wolf,  who  is  in  charge 
of  the  warehouse,  says  the  loss  on  tents, 
blankets,  cots,  and  other  bedding  stored 
on  the  floors  of  the  building  was  large. 
—New  York  Mail. 

42 


THE    SIMPLE    FIRE    STORY 

As  one  reads  down  through  the  rest  of  the  story 
he  finds  nothing  more  striking  than  the  fact  that 
there  was  a  fire.  Therefore  there  is  no  particular 
feature.  No  one  was  killed;  no  one  was  injured; 
the  loss  was  not  extraordinary  for  a  New  York  fire 
— nothing  in  the  story  is  of  greater  interest  than  the 
mere  fact  that  there  was  a  fire.  Hence  the  story  be- 
gins with  the  word  "Fire."  Notice  that  it  does  not 
begin  "A  fire"  or  "The  fire" — for  the  simple  reason 
that  the  word  fire  does  not  need  an  article  before  it. 
The  editor  will  also  tell  you  that  it  is  not  considered 
good  to  begin  a  story  with  an  article,  for  the  begin- 
ning is  the  most  important  part  of  a  story  and  it  is 
foolish  to  waste  that  advantageous  place  on  unim- 
portant words. 

The  first  word  tells  the  reader  that  there  has  been 
a  fire.  He  immediately  asks  where  ? — what  burned  ? 
— when? — how  much  was  lost?  And  the  reporter 
proceeds  to  answer  his  questions  in  their  order  of 
importance.  The  reporter  who  wrote  this  story  ap- 
parently thought  that  the  time  was  of  greatest  im- 
portance and  slipped  it  in  at  once — "today."  He 
might  just  as  well  have  left  the  time  until  the  end 
of  the  sentence  because  it  is  not  of  very  great  in- 
terest. He  considers  the  question  "Where"  of  next 
importance,  and  answers  with  "the  top  o'f  the  six- 
story  warehouse  at  393  to  395  Washington  Street." 

43 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

The  question  "what?"  he  answers  with  a  clause, 
"used  by  the  United  States  army  as  a  medical  supply 
store-room  for  the  Department  of  the  East."  He 
does  not  try  to  answer  the  question  "why?"  because, 
as  the  rest  of  the  story  tells  us,  no  one  knew  exactly 
what  caused  the  fire.  And  as  for  the  "How?"  there 
is  nothing  extraordinary  in  the  way  that  it  burned 
beyond  the  fact  that  it  burned.  Thus,  in  one  sen- 
tence, he  has  answered  all  four  questions  about  the 
fire,  except  a  little  query  concerning  the  amount  of 
the  loss.  That  he  considers  worth  a  separate  sen- 
tence of  details. 

This  is  not  a  perfect  lead.  Many  editors  would 
consider  it  faulty,  but  it  illustrates  one  way  of  writ- 
ing the  lead  of  a  featureless  fire  story.  Obvious- 
ly there  are  faults;  for  instance,  the  time  is 
given  an  undue  amount  of  emphasis  and  the  cause 
is  omitted. 

Suppose  that  we  construct  another  lead  from  the 
same  story — a  lead  which  would  be  more  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  logic  of  newspaper  writing. 
We  shall  begin  with  the  word  "fire,"  but  after  it 
we  shall  slip  in  a  little  mention  of  the  cause 
since  to  the  reader  not  directly  acquainted  with  the 
property  that  point  is  always  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance. Then  we  shall  tell  where  the  fire  was 
and  after  that  what  was  burned.  And  last  of  all 

44 


THE    SIMPLE    FIRE    STORY 

we  shall  give  the  time  since  that  is  of  least  im- 
portance to  the  average  reader.  This  would  be 
the  result : 

Fire  of  unknown  origin  wrecked  the 
top  of  the  six-story  warehouse  at  393- 
395  Washington  street,  used  by  the 
United  States  army  as  a  medical  sup- 
ply store-room  for  the  Department  of 
the  East,  destroying  a  large  number  of 
tents,  blankets,  cots,  and  other  bedding, 
today. 

We  might  as  well  have  put  the  what  before  the 
where  or  altered  the  lead  in  any  other  way.  But  we 
would  always  begin  with  the  word  "fire"  and  answer 
all  the  questions  that  the  reader  might  ask — in  one 
short  simple  sentence.  This  constitutes  our  lead. 
We  have  told  the  casual  reader  what  he  wants  to 
know  about  the  fire.  We  give  him  more  details 
about  the  fire  if  he  wants  to  read  them,  but  after  we 
have  stated  the  case  clearly  in  the  lead  we  no  longer 
reckon  his  time  so  carefully  and  allow  ourselves 
some  latitude  in  the  telling.  After  the  lead  we  begin 
the  story  from  the  beginning  and  tell  it  in  its  logical 
order  from  start  to  finish,  always  bearing  in  mind 
that  the  editor  may  chop  off  a  paragraph  or  two  at 
the  end. 

Hence  the  second  paragraph  of  the  story  as  it 
appeared  in  The  Mail  begins : 

45 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 


John  Smith,  a  man  employed  in  the 
stock-room  on  the  sixth  floor,  saw 
smoke  rolling  out  of  one  corner  and 
notified  other  employees  in  the  build- 
ing, while  Patrolman  Hogan  turned  in 
an  alarm. 


We  are  back  at  the  beginning  now  and  telling 
things  as  they  came.  The  next  paragraph  of  the 
story  tells  us  how  they  fought  the  fire,  and  the  third 
tells  us  how  they  finally  brought  it  under  control. 
The  last  paragraph  of  the  story  reads : 

There  are  three  such  warehouses  in 
the  country,  one  at  St.  Louis,  another 
at  San  Francisco,  but  the  one  in  this 
city  is  by  far  the  largest.  In  it  are 
kept  supplies  for  the  Departments  of  the 
East,  Gulf,  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  and  the 
Philippines. 

The  editor  of  The  Mail  had  plenty  of  space  that 
day  and  saw  fit  to  run  this  last  paragraph,  but  we 
should  not  have  lost  much  had  he  chopped  it  off. 
Perhaps  the  reporter's  copy  contained  still  another 
paragraph  telling  about  Captain  Wolf,  but  that  did 
not  pass  the  editorial  pencil.  Even  more  of  the 
story  might  have  been  slashed  without  depriving 
us  of  much  of  the  interesting  news. 

Judging  from  the  above  story  a  newspaper  ac- 
count is  divided  into  two  separate  and  independent 
parts :  the  lead  and  the  detailed  account.  The  lead 


THE    SIMPLE    FIRE    STORY 

is  written  for  the  casual  reader  and  contains  all  the 
necessary  facts  about  the  fire;  it  may  stand  alone 
and  constitute  a  story  in  itself.  The  detailed  account 
is  written  for  the  reader  who  wants  to  hear  more 
about  the  incident,  and  is  written  in  the  logical  order 
of  events — with  an  eye  to  the  danger  of  the  editor's 
pencil  threatening  the  last  paragraphs.  In  other 
words,  the  reporter  tells  his  story  briefly  in  one  para- 
graph and  then  goes  back  and  tells  it  all  over  again 
in  a  more  detailed  way.  If  the  story  is  of  sufficient 
importance  the  second  telling  may  not  be  sufficient 
and  he  may  go  back  a  third  time  to  the  beginning 
and  tell  it  again  with  still  greater  detail — but  that 
is  another  matter.  For  the  present  we  shall  consider 
only  the  lead  and  the  first  detailed  account. 

There  are  certain  other  points  to  be  noticed  in 
the  report  of  a  featureless  fire.  Under  no  condition 
should  it  begin  with  the  time.  Why?  Because, 
unless  the  time  is  of  extreme  interest,  no  one  cares 
particularly  when  the  fire  occurred.  And  if  the  time 
is  of  great  interest — as,  for  instance,  if  a  church 
should  burn  while  the  congregation  is  in  it — then  the 
time  becomes  a  feature  to  be  played  up  and  the  story 
is  no  longer  a  featureless  story.  We  are  now  con- 
sidering stories  in  which  nothing  is  of  greater  inter- 
est than  the  mere  fact  that  there  was  a  fire. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  location.  Who  cares  what 
47 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

street  the  fire  was  on  until  he  knows  more  about  the 
fire?  If  the  location  were  of  such  significant  im- 
portance as  to  be  played  up,  the  story  would  no 
longer  be  a  featureless  story. 

The  paragraphing  is  also  important.  Since  the 
lead  is  in  itself  a  separate  part  of  the  story  it  should 
always  be  paragraphed  separately.  Do  not  let  the 
beginning  of  the  detailed  account  lap  over  into  the 
lead,  and  do  not  introduce  into  the  first  paragraph 
any  facts  which  are  not  absolutely  a  part  of  the  lead 
—that  is,  facts  that  are  absolutely  essential  to  a  gen- 
eral knowledge  of  the  fire.  When  once  you  begin 
to  tell  the  story  in  detail  tell  it  logically  and  para- 
graph it  logically.  Do  not  tell  us  that  John  Smith 
discovered  the  fire  and  that  the  loss  is  $500  in  the 
same  paragraph.  Take  up  each  point  separately  and 
treat  it  fully  before  you  leave  it — then  begin  a  new 
paragraph  for  the  next  item. 

To  take  a  hypothetical  case,  suppose  that  misfor- 
tune visits  the  home  of  John  H.  Jones,  who  lives  at 
79  Liberty  Street.  A  defective  flue  sets  his  house 
on  fire  and  it  burns  to  the  ground.  By  inquiry  we 
find  that  the  house  is  worth  about  $4,000  and  is  fully 
insured. 

There  is  nothing  particularly  striking  about  the 
story.  We  are  sorry  for  Mr.  Jones,  but  many 


THE    SIMPLE    FIRE    STORY 

houses  worth  $4,000  are  set  on  fire  by  poor  chim- 
neys and  many  more  houses  burn  down.  No  one 
was  hurt,  no  one  was  killed;  the  most  striking  part 
of  it  all  is  that  there  was  a  fire.  We  would  begin 
with  the  word  "Fire."  Perhaps  our  readers  would 
be  most  interested  in  the  cause  of  the  fire  and  we 
shall  tell  them  that  first.  Then  we  shall  tell  them 
what  burned,  when  it  burned,  and  where  it  stood. 
There  is  nothing  else  that  a  casual  reader  would 
want  to  know  and  the  lead  would  read : 

Fire  starting  in  a  defective  chimney 
destroyed  the  residence  of  John  H. 
Jones,  79  Liberty  street,  at  midnight  last 
night,  causing  a  loss  of  $4,000,  covered 
by  insurance 

Our  casual  reader  is  satisfied.  For  the  reader 
who  wishes  to  know  more  about  the  fire  we  add  a 
paragraph  or  two  of  detail.  First,  we  may  tell  him 
who  discovered  the  fire ;  then  how  the  Jones  family 
managed  to  escape ;  and  after  that  how  the  fire  was 
extinguished,  and  we  might  slip  in  a  paragraph  ex- 
plaining just  what  trouble  in  the  chimney  made  a 
fire  possible.  The  editor  may  chop  off  any  number 
of  paragraphs  or  cut  the  story  down  to  the  lead,  and 
yet  our  readers  will  get  the  facts  and  know  just  ex- 
actly what  was  the  reason  for  the  fire  bell  and  the 
red  sky  at  midnight  last  night. 

49 


VI 

THE   FEATURE   FIRE   STORY 

A  fire  story  without  a  feature  begins  with  "Fire" 
because  there  is  nothing  in  the  story  more  interesting 
than  the  fact  that  there  has  been  a  fire.  Such  was 
the  case  in  the  burning  of  John  Jones's  house  in  the 
last  chapter.  But  just  as  soon  as  any  part  of  the 
story  becomes  more  interesting  than  the  fact  that 
there  was  a  fire,  the  story  is  no  longer  featureless — 
it  is  a  fire  story  with  a  feature,  or,  for  the  purposes 
of  our  study,  a  feature  fire  story.  This  feature  may 
be  related  to  the  story  in  one  of  two  ways.  In  the 
first  place,  the  answer  to  some  one  of  the  reader's 
questions  may  be  the  feature — e.g.,  the  answer  to 
when,  where,  what,  how,  why,  who.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  feature  may  be  in  some  unexpected  at- 
tendant circumstance  that  the  reader  would  not  think 
of ;  for  instance,  loss  of  life,  an  interesting  rescue,  or 
something  of  that  sort.  Such  a  distinction  is  en- 
tirely arbitrary  and  would  not  be  considered  in  a 
newspaper  office,  but  it  will  make  the  matter  simpler 
for  the  purposes  of  study. 

50 


THE    FEATURE    FIRE    STORY 

A.    FEATURES  IN  ANSWERS  TO  READER'S  CUSTOMARY 
QUESTIONS 

(When,  Where,  What,  How,  Why,  Who). 

Suppose  that  John  Jones's  house  did  not  burn  in 
the  usual  way — suppose  that  there  is  some  striking 
incident  in  the  story  that  makes  it  different  from 
other  fire  stories.  The  story  has  a  feature.  Perhaps 
the  answer  to  some  one  of  the  reader's  customary 
questions  is  more  interesting  than  the  answers  to 
the  others — so  much  more  interesting  that  it  super- 
sedes even  the  fact  that  there  was  a  fire.  Then  it 
would  be  foolish  to  begin  with  the  mere  word  "fire" 
when  we  have  something  more  interesting  to  tell. 
The  fire  takes  a  second  place  and  we  begin  with  the 
interesting  fact  that  supersedes  it.  For  the  present 
we  shall  consider  that  this  interesting  fact  is  the 
answer  to  one  of  the  questions  that  the  reader  al- 
ways asks;  for  instance,  why  the  house  burned  or 
when  it  burned. 

1.  Why. — Perhaps  Mr.  Jones's  house  was  set  on 
fire  in  a  very  unusual  way.  There  was  a  little  party 
in  session  at  the  Jones's  and  some  one  decided  to 
take  a  flash-light  picture.  The  flash-light  set  fire 
to  a  lace  curtain  and  before  any  one  could  stop  it 
the  house  was  afire.  Few  fires  begin  in  that  way, 

5  i 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

and  our  readers  would  be  very  interested  in  hearing 
about  it.  The  story  has  a  feature  in  the  answer  to 
the  reader's  Why?  And  so  we  would  begin  our 
lead  in  this  way : 

A  flashlight  setting  fire  to  a  lace 
curtain  started  a  fire  which  destroyed 
the  residence  of  John  H.  Jones,  79  Lib- 
erty street,  at  n  o'clock  last  night  and 
caused  a  loss  of  $4,000. 

In  this  way  the  feature  is  played  up  at  the  begin- 
ning- of  the  sentence,  and  yet  the  rest  of  the  reader's 
questions  are  answered  in  the  same  sentence  and  he 
knows  a  great  deal  about  the  fire.  Or,  leaving  Mr. 
Jones  to  his  fate,  we  may  give  another  example  of 
an  unusual  cause  taken  from  a  newspaper.  This 
was  a  big  fire,  and  yet  the  unusual  cause  was  of 
greater  interest  than  the  fire  itself  or  the  amount  of 
property  destroyed: 

A  tiny  "joss  stick,"  the  lighted  end  of 
which  was  no  larger  than  a  pinhead, 
is  thought  to  have  been  responsible  for 
a  fire  that  destroyed  the  White  City 
Amusement  Park  at  Broad  Ripple  last 
night.  The  loss  to  the  amusement  com- 
pany is  $161,000. — Indianapolis  News. 

2.  Where. — To  return  to  Mr.  Jones,  there  may 
have  been  some  other  incident  in  the  burning  of  his 

52 


THE   FEATURE    FIRE    STORY 


house  aside  from  the  cause  that  was  of  exceptional 
interest.  Let  us  say  that  his  house  stood  in  a  part 
of  the  town  where  a  fire  was  to  be  feared.  Perhaps 
it  stood  within  twenty  feet  of  the  new  First  Congre- 
gational Church.  The  burning  of  Jones's  house 
would  then  be  insignificant  in  comparison  to  the 
danger  to  the  costly  edifice  beside  it,  and  our  readers 
would  be  more  interested  in  an  item  concerning  their 
church.  The  answer  to  Where?  is  more  interesting 
than  the  fire  itself.  Hence  we  would  bury,  so  to 
speak,  Mr.  Jones's  misfortune  behind  the  greater 
danger,  and  the  story  would  read : 


Fire  endangered  the  new  First  Con- 
gregational Church  on  Liberty  street, 
erected  at  a  cost  of  $100,000,  when  the 
home  of  J.  H.  Jones,  in  the  rear  of  the 
church,  was  destroyed  at  midnight  last 
night. 


Or: 


The  First  Congregational  Church,  re- 
cently built  at  a  cost  of  $100,000,  was 
seriously  threatened  by  a  fire  which  de- 
stroyed the  residence  of  John  H.  Jones, 
78  Liberty  street,  within  twenty  feet  of 
the  church,  at  midnight  last  night. 


Turning  again  to  the  daily  papers,  we  can  find 
many  fire  stories  in  which  the  location  of  the  burned 

53 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

structure  is  important  enough  to  take  the  first  line 
of  the  lead.     Here  is  one : 


The  Plaza  Hotel  had  a  few  uncom- 
fortable moments  last  night  when  flames 
from  a  building  adjoining  at  22  West 
Fifty-ninth  street  were  shooting  up  as 
high  as  the  tenth  story  of  the  hotel  and 
the  fire  apparatus  which  responded  to 
the  delayed  alarm  was  looking  for  the 
blaze  several  blocks  away. — New  York 
Sun. 


3.  When — Sometimes  the  time  of  the  fire  is  very 
interesting.  John  H.  Jones's  house  may  have  caught 
fire  from  a  very  insignificant  thing  and  its  location 
may  have  been  unimportant,  but  the  fire  may  have 
come  at  an  unusual  time.  Perhaps  Mr.  Jones's 
daughter  was  being  married  at  a  quiet  home  wed- 
ding in  her  father's  house  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
ceremony  the  roof  of  the  house  burst  into  flames. 
The  unusual  time  would  be  interesting;  the  answer 
to  When?  would  be  the  feature.  We  might  write 
the  lead  thus: 


During  the  wedding  of  Miss  Mary 
Jones  at  the  home  of  her  father,  John 
H.  Jones,  78  Liberty  street,  last  night, 
the  house  suddenly  burst  into  flames 
and  the  bridal  party  was  compelled  to 
flee  into  the  street. 

54 


THE   FEATURE   FIRE   STORY 


Or: 


Fire  interrupted  the  wedding  of  Miss 
Mary  Jones  at  her  father's  home,  78 
Liberty  street,  last  night,  when  the 
house  caught  fire  from  a  defective  chim- 
ney during  the  ceremony. 


The  daily  papers   furnish  many  illustrations  of 
fires  at  unusual  times — here  is  one : 


When  the  snowstorm  was  at  its  height 
early  this  morning,  a  three-story  brick 
building  at  Nos.  4410-18  Third  Avenue, 
Brooklyn,  caught  fire,  and  the  flames 
spread  rapidly  to  an  adjoining  tenement, 
sending  a  small  crowd  of  shivering  ten- 
ants into  the  icy  street. — New  York 
Post. 


4.  What.— (a)  The  Burned  Building.— Many  fire 
stories  have  their  feature  in  the  answer  to  the  read- 
er's What?  Not  infrequently  the  building  itself  is 
of  great  importance.  Naturally  "The  residence  of 
John  H.  Jones"  would  not  make  a  good  beginning, 
if  John  Jones  is  not  well  known,  because  people 
would  be  more  interested  in  reading  about  a  mere 
fire  than  in  reading  about  the  residence  of  John  H. 
Jones,  whom  they  do  not  know.  For  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  it  is  the  first  line  that  catches  the 
reader's  eye  and  the  interest  or  lack  of  interest  in 
the  first  line  determines  whether  or  not  the  story  is 

55 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

to  be  read.  Now,  suppose  that  a  building  that  is 
very  well  known  burns — the  City  Hall,  the  Albany 
State  House,  the  Herald  Square  Theater — the  mere 
mention  of  the  building  will  attract  the  reader's  at- 
tention. Therefore  the  reporter  begins  with  the  an- 
swer to  What?  the  name  of  the  building,  as  in  the 
following  cases : 

GLENS  FALLS,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  17.— 
The  Kaatskill  House,  for  many  years  a 
popular  Lake  George  resort,  was  com- 
pletely destroyed  by  fire  this  forenoon. 
— New  York  Times. 


The  First  M.  E.  Church  of  Chelsea, 
familiarly  known  as  the  Cary  avenue 
church,  was  damaged  last  night  to  the 
amount  of  $7,000  by  fire. — Boston  Her- 
ald. 


(b)  The  Amount  of  Property  Destroyed. — The 
answer  to  What  burned?  is  not  necessarily  a  build- 
ing, for  the  building  itself  may  not  be  worth  featur- 
ing. The  contents  of  the  building  may  be  more  in- 
teresting, especially  if  the  amount  of  property  de- 
stroyed can  be  put  in  striking  terms,  such  as  $2,- 
000,000  worth  of  property,  or  two  thousand  chick- 
ens, or  fifty-three  automobiles,  or  7,000  gallons  of 
whisky.  These  figures  printed  at  the  beginning  of 
the  first  paragraph  catch  the  reader's  eye,  thus : 

56 


THE   FEATURE   FIRE   STORY 


Five  automobiles,  valued  at  $5,800, 
and  property  amounting  to  $6,200  were 
destroyed  last  evening  when  fire  broke 
in  the  repair  shop  of  the  G.  W.  Browne 
Motor  company,  228-232  Wisconsin 
street,  near  the  North-Western  station. 
— Milwaukee  Sentinel. 


5.  How. — Very  rarely  the  manner  in  which  a  fire 
burns  is  quite  unique  and  deserves  featuring.     It  is 
inconceivable  that  John  Jones's  house  could  burn  in 
any  very  unusual   way — "with  many  explosions," 
"with  a  glare  of  flames  that  aroused  the  whole  city," 
"with  vast  clouds  of  oily  smoke" — but  some  fires  do 
burn  in  some  such  a  way  and  are  interesting  only  for 
the  way  they  burned.     The  following  story  begins 
with   the   answer  to   How?  although   the  manner 
might  be  described  more  explicitly : 

Stubborn  fires  have  been  fought  in  the 
past,  but  one  of  the  hardest  blazes  to 
conquer  that  the  local  department  ever 
contended  with  gutted  the  plant  of  N. 
Drucker  &  Co.,  manufacturers  of  trunks 
and  valises,  at  the  northwest  corner  of 
Ninth  and  Broadway,  last  night. — Cin- 
cinnati Commercial  Tribune. 

6.  Who. — Just  as  it  would  be  foolish  to  begin  with 
"the  residence  of  John  Jones,"  since  the  building  is 
not  well  known,  it  would  not  be  advisable  to  begin 
with 'John  Jones's  name,  no  matter  what  part  he 

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NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

played.  John  Jones  is  not  well  known  and  so  to 
the  newspaper  he  is  just  a  man  and  is  treated  im- 
personally regardless  of  what  he  does  or  what  hap- 
pens to  him.  Our  interest  in  him  is  entirely  imper- 
sonal, and  all  we  want  to  know  about  him  is  what 
he  has  done  or  what  has  happened  to  him.  There- 
fore few  reporters  would  begin  a  story  with  John 
Jones's  name.  However,  let  some  man  who  is  well 
known  do  or  suffer  the  slightest  thing  and  his  name 
immediately  lends  interest  to  the  story — and  there- 
fore commands  first  place  in  the  introduction.  If 
John  D.  Rockefeller  should  even  witness  a  fire,  or  if 
President  Taft  should  be  in  the  slightest  way  con- 
nected with  a  fire,  the  mere  fire  story  would  shrink 
into  significance  behind  the  name.  And  so,  very 
often  it  is  advisable  to  begin  a  fire  story  with  a  name, 
if  the  name  is  of  sufficient  prominence.  It  is  not 
necessary  that  the  well-known  man's  property  be  de- 
stroyed or  even  endangered  for  his  name  to  have  the 
first  place  in  the  first  sentence  of  the  lead;  if  the 
well-known  man  has  anything  whatever  to  do  with 
the  fire  his  name  should  be  featured  because  to  the 
average  reader  the  interest  in  his  name  overshadows 
any  interest  in  the  fire.  In  this  example,  the  name 
overshadows  a  striking  loss  of  property  and  the  story 
begins  with  the  answer  to  Who? 


THE   FEATURE   FIRE    STORY 

NEW  YORK,  Nov.  6.— While  Clen- 
denin  J.  Ryan,  son  of  Thomas  F.  Ryan, 
the  traction  magnate,  and  a  band  of  vol- 
unteer fire  fighters — many  of  them  mil- 
lionaires— fought  a  blaze  which  started 
in  the  garage  of  young  Ryan's  country 
estate  near  Suffern,  N.  Y.,  early  in  the 
morning,  three  valuable  automobiles, 
seven  thoroughbred  horses  and  several 
outbuildings  were  totally  destroyed. — 
Milwaukee  Sentinel. 


It  will  be  seen  that  in  each  of  the  above  feature 
fire  stories  some  incident  in  the  fire,  or  connected 
with  the  fire,  overshadows  the  mere  fact  that  there 
was  a  fire  and  makes  it  advisable  to  begin  the  story 
of  the  fire  with  the  fact  or  incident  of  unusual  in- 
terest. Furthermore,  in  each  of  these  stories  the  un- 
usual feature  in  the  story  is  a  direct  answer  to  one 
of  the  reader's  questions — when?  where?  how? 
what?  why?  who?  In  other  words,  the  reporter  in 
answering  these  questions,  as  he  must  in  the  lead  of 
every  story,  finds  the  answer  to  one  question  so 
much  more  interesting  than  the  answer  to  any  of  the 
other  questions  that  he  puts  it  first.  In  every  fire 
story,  however,  the  feature  is  not  so  easily  discov- 
ered. 


59 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

B.      FEATURES  IN  UNEXPECTED  ATTENDANT  CIRCUM- 
STANCES 

There  are  other  things  in  the  day's  fire  stories, 
besides  the  answers  to  the  reader's  questions,  that 
may  overshadow  the  rest  of  the  story  and  deserve  to 
be  featured.  Very  often  there  are  unexpected  at- 
tendant circumstances  occurring  simultaneously  with 
the  fire  or  resulting  from  the  fire  to  command  our 
interest.  Perhaps  a  number  of  people  are  killed  or 
injured;  then  we  want  to  know  about  them  first,  and 
the  reporter  neglects  to  answer  our  questions  for  the 
moment  while  he  tells  us  the  startling  attendant  cir- 
cumstances that  we  had  not  expected.  Even  so, 
while  giving  first  place  to  the  feature,  he  does  not 
forget  our  questions  but  answers  them  in  the  same 
sentence.  Hence  the  introduction  of  a  fire  story 
with  significant  attendant  circumstances  begins  with 
the  startling  fact  resulting  from  the  fire  and  then 
goes  on  to  answer  the  reader's  questions — in  the 
same  sentence. 

This  is  not  so  difficult  as  it  may  sound.  Suppose 
that  when  John  Jones's  house  burns  there  is  a  stiff 
breeze  blowing  and  the  chances  are  that  all  the  other 
houses  in  the  block  will  go  with  it.  All  of  his  neigh- 
bors become  frightened  and  work  with  feverish 
haste  to  move  their  household  goods  out  into  the 

60 


THE   FEATURE   FIRE    STORY 

street.  In  the  end  the  fire  department  succeeds  in 
confining  the  fire  to  Mr.  Jones's  house  and  his 
neighbors  promptly  carry  their  chattels  back  indoors 
thanking  the  god  of  good  luck.  Now  the  mere  fact 
that  John  Jones's  house  burned  down  is  rather  in- 
significant beside  the  fact  that  a  dozen  families  were 
driven  from  their  homes  by  the  fire.  Therefore  the 
reporter  would  begin  thus : 

Twelve  families  were  driven  from 
their  homes  by  a  fire  which  destroyed 
the  residence  of  John  H.  Jones,  78  Lib- 
erty street,  at  1 1  o'clock  last  night.  The 
fire  was  at  length  kept  from  spreading 
and  the  neighboring  residences  were 
reoccupied. 

Or  to  take  an  incident  from  the  daily  press  in 
which  the  neighbors  were  not  so  fortunate ;  although 
they  might  have  entirely  lost  their  homes : 

Twenty-two  families  in  the  six-story 
tenement  at  147  Orchard  street  were 
routed  out  of  the  house  twice  early  to- 
day by  fires  which  caused  a  great  deal 
of  smoke,  but  little  real  damage. — New 
York  Mail. 

1.  Death — (a)  Number  of  Dead. — The  most 
usual  attendant  circumstances  that  will  come  to  our 
notice  is  death  in  the  fire.  Let  us  say  that  Mr. 
Jones's  three  children  were  alone  in  the  house  and 

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NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

burned  to  death.  Their  death  would  be  of  more  in- 
terest to  us  than  the  burning  of  their  father's  house 
— and  our  story  would  necessarily  begin  in  this  way : 

Three  children  were  burned  to  death 
in  a  fire  which  destroyed  the  home  of 
their  father,  John  H.  Jones,  78  Liberty 
street,  last  night. 

So  common  is  death  in  connection  with  fire  that 
almost  every  day's  paper  contains  one  or  more  stories 

beginning   "Ten   persons   were   cremated "    or 

"Four  firemen  were  killed "   And  in  every  case 

the  loss  of  human  life  is  considered  of  greater  im- 
portance than  any  other  incident  in  the  story,  and 
the  number  of  dead  always  takes  precedence  over 
many  another  startling  feature.  Here  are  a  few 
examples : 


JOHNSTOWN,  Pa.,  Jan.  18.— Seven 
men  were  cremated  in  a  fire  that  burned 
to  the  ground  three  double  houses  near 
Berlin,  Somerset  County,  early  this 
morning. — New  York  Sun. 

Three  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ber- 
nard Lindberg,  3328  Nineteenth  avenue 
south,  were  cremated  in  a  fire  which 
destroyed  their  home  shortly  after  12 
o'clock  yesterday.  The  children  had 
been  left  alone  in  the  house,  shut  up  in 
their  bedroom,  etc. — St.  Paul  Pioneer 
Press. 

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THE   FEATURE   FIRE    STORY 

One  fireman  was  killed,  another  fire- 
man and  a  woman  were  injured  and 
eight  people  escaped  death  by  a  nar- 
row margin  Saturday  night  in  a  fire 
which  destroyed  the,  etc. — Milwaukee 
Sentinel. 

NEW  YORK,  March  27.— One  hun- 
dred and  forty-one  persons  are  dead  as 
a  result  of  the  fire  which  on  Saturday 
afternoon  swept  the  three  upper  floors 
of  the  factory  loft  building  at  the  north- 
west corner  of  Washington  place  and 
Greene  street.  More  than  three-quarters 
of  this  number  are  women  and  girls, 
who  were  employed  in  the  Triangle 
Shirt  Waist  factory,  where  the  fire  orig- 
inated.— Boston  Transcript. 

(b)  List  of  Dead. — When  the  number  of  dead  or 
injured  reaches  any  very  significant  figure  it  is  cus- 
tomary to  make  a  table  of  dead  and  injured.  This 
table  is  usually  set  into  the  story  close  after  the  lead, 
but  very  often  the  list  is  put  in  a  "box"  and  slipped 
in  above  the  story.  In  writing  the  story,  however, 
the  reporter  disregards  the  table  and  begins  his  lead 
as  if  there  were  no  table :  e.g.,  "Twelve  firemen  were 

killed  and  fourteen  injured  in  a  fire "    The  list 

usually  gives  the  name,  address  (or  some  other  iden- 
tification), and  the  nature  of  the  injury,  thus: 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 


Or: 


Injured    Firemen: 

Capt.  Frank  Makal,  Engine  Co.  No. 
4,  cut  by  glass. 

Acting  Captain  W.  E.  Brown,  fire 
boat  No.  23,  cut  by  glass. 

Peter  Ryan,  No.  15,  flying  glass. — 
Milwaukee  Free  Press. 


The    Dead : 

Mrs.   Charles   Smith,   14  W.  Gorham 
street. 

John   Johnson,    1193   Chatham   street. 
The    Injured: 

Thomas    Green,    mi    Grand    street; 
face  cut  by  flying  glass. 
,  James   Brown,    176   Orchard   avenue; 
internal  injuries;  may  die. 


(c)  Manner  of  Death. — A  number  of  fatalities  at 
the  beginning  always  attracts  attention.  Not  infre- 
quently the  manner  or  the  cause,  especially  in  the 
case  of  a  single  death,  is  worth  the  first  place  in  the 

lead — not  as  "One  man  killed "  but  as  "Crushed 

beneath  a  falling  wall,  a  man  was  killed/'  If  a  man 
burns  to  death  in  a  very  unusual  way,  or  for  an  un- 
usual reason,  we  are  more  interested  in  the  way  he 
was  burned,  or  the  reason  that  he  burned,  than  in 
the  mere  fact  that  he  was  burned  to  death.  The 
first  line  then  tells  us  how  or  why  he  was  burned. 
Thus: 

64 


THE    FEATURE    FIRE   STORY 

To  save  his  money,  which  he  hoped 
would  some  day  raise  him  from  the 
rank  of  a  laborer  to  that  of  a  prosper- 
ous merchant,  King  Lee,  a  Chinese 
laundryman,  ran  back  into  his  burning 
laundry  at  3031  Nicollet  avenue  today, 
after  he  was  once  safe  from  the  flames, 
and  was  so  badly  burned  that  phy- 
sicians say  he  cannot  live. — Minneapo- 
lis Journal. 


2.  Injuries. — Very  often  no  one  is  killed  in  a  fire 
but  some  one  is  injured.     For  example,  five  firemen 
are  overcome  by  ammonia  fumes  or  two  men  are 
seriously  injured  by  a  falling  wall.     This  then  be- 
comes the  feature.     Injuries  to  human  beings,  if 
serious  or  in  any  considerable  number,  take  prece- 
dence over  other  features,  just  as  loss  of  human  life 
does.     Here  is  an  example  from  the  press  in  which 
all  the  injuries  are  gathered  together  at  the  begin- 
ning: 

Six  firemen  and  two  laborers  were 
overcome  by  smoke,  while  three  other 
firemen  received  minor  injuries  by  fly- 
ing glass  in  a  fire  which  broke  out  yes- 
terday morning  at  10:30  o'clock  in  the 
Wellauer-Hoffman  building,  at,  etc. — 
Milwaukee  Free  Press. 

3.  Rescues.  — (a)  Number  of  People  Rescued. — 
When  people  are  rescued  from  great  danger  in  a 

65 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 


fire  their  escape  makes  a  very  good  feature.  If  many 
of  them  are  rescued  or  escape  very  narrowly,  the 
mere  number  of  people  saved  deserves  the  first  place, 
as: 

More  than  150  men  and  women  were 
saved  from  death  today  in  a  fire  at  213- 
217  Grand  street  by  toboganning  from 
the  roof  of  the  burning  structure  on  a 
board  chute  to  the  roof  of  an  adjoining 
five-story  building. — New  York  Mail. 

(b)  Manner  of  Rescue. — But  more  often  the 
manner  of  their  escape  interests  us  most.  If  a  man 
slides  down  a  rope  for  four  stories  to  escape  death 
by  fire  we  are  more  interested  in  how  he  saved  him- 
self than  in  the  fact  that  he  didn't  burn,  and  so  we 
tell  how  he  escaped,  in  the  first  line.  In  the  same 
way,  if  unusual  means  are  used  to  save  one  or  more 
persons,  the  means  of  rescue  is  usually  worth  featur- 
ing. For  example : 


Overcoats  used  as  life  nets  saved  the 
lives  of  a  dozen  women  and  children 
in  a  fire  of  incendiary  origin  in  the 
three-story  frame  tenement  house  at  137 
Havemeyer  avenue,  Brooklyn,  to-day, 
etc. — New  York  Mail. 


4.  Property  Threatened — Death  and  injury  are  the 
commonest  unexpected  circumstances  in  fire  stories, 
but  they  are  not  the  only  ones  that  may  be  worth 

66 


THE   FEATURE   FIRE    STORY 

featuring".  There  is  an  inconceivable  number  of 
things  that  may  happen  at  a  fire  and  overshadow 
all  interest  in  the  fire  itself.  A  good  feature  may 
be  found  in  the  property  that  is  threatened.  Often 
the  fire  in  itself  is  insignificant,  but  because  of  a 
high  wind  or  other  circumstances  it  threatens  to 
spread  to  neighboring  buildings  or  to  devastate  a 
large  area.  In  such  a  case  the  amount  of  property 
threatened  or  endangered  deserves  a  place  in  the 
very  first  line,  especially  if  it  exceeds  the  amount  of 
property  actually  destroyed  and  if  it  can  be  put  in  a 
striking  way ;  i.  e.,  the  entire  waterfront  district,  or 
twenty-five  dwelling  houses,  or  $5,000,000  worth  of 
property.  When  contrasted  with  the  small  amount 
of  damage  actually  done,  the  amount  that  is  threat- 
ened becomes  more  important.  Thus : 

Fire  that  for  a  time  threatened  $2,000,- 
ooo  worth  of  property  destroyed  $15,- 
ooo  worth  of  lumber  owned  by  the 
Milwaukee  Lumber  Company,  725  Clin- 
ton street,  yesterday.  .  .  . 

The  territory  between  Mitchell  street 
and  the  Kinnickinnic  river  and  Reed 
street,  to  the  lake,  containing  manufac- 
tories, dwellings  and  stores,  was  men- 
aced.— Milwaukee  News. 

5.  Fire  Fighting. — Not  unusually  a  serious  fire  re- 
sults from  the  fact  that  it  was  not  checked  for  some 
6  67 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

reason  or  other  during  its  earlier  stages.  Perhaps 
the  whole  thing  might  have  been  avoided,  or,  on  the 
contrary,  a  big  fire  may  be  extinguished  with  unex- 
pected ease  or  unusual  skill.  In  rare  cases  this  mat- 
ter of  very  efficient  or  very  inefficient  fire  fighting  is 
of  sufficient  importance  to  take  the  first  place  in  the 
lead.  For  example : 

Almost  total  lack  of  water  pressure 
is  blamed  for  the  big  loss  in  a  fire 
started  by  a  firebug  to-day  in  the  five- 
story  factory  building  of  Lamchick 
Brothers,  manufacturing  company,  400- 
402  South  Second  street,  Williamsburg. 
— New  York  Mail. 

Rotten  hose,  which  burst  as  fast  as  it 
was  put  in  use,  imperiled  the  lives  of 
more  than  a  score  of  firemen  to-day  at 
a  blaze  which  swept  the  three-story 
frame  flat  house  at  Third  avenue  and 
Sixty-seventh  street,  Brooklyn,  from 
cellar  to  roof,  etc.— New  York  Mail. 

6.  Crowd. — Not  uncommonly  in  the  city  a  tremen- 
dous crowd  gathers  to  watch  a  fire  and  blocks  traffic 
for  hours.  In  the  absence  of  other  significant  inci- 
dents— death,  great  loss,  etc. — the  reporter  may  be- 
gin his  story  with  an  account  of  the  crowd  present 
or  the  blockade  of  traffic.  Such  a  beginning  should 
always  be  used  only  as  a  last  resort  when  a  fire  has 
no  other  interesting  phase,  for  crowds  always  gather 

68 


THE   FEATURE    FIRE    STORY 

at  fires  and  only  a  very  serious  blocking  of  traffic 
is  worth  reporting.    Thus : 

Fully  15,000  persons  were  attracted 
to  the  scene  of  the  fire  in  the  portion 
of  the  plant  of  the  Greenwald  Packing 
Company,  Claremont  Stock  Yards, 
which  was  discovered  at  4:56  yesterday 
afternoon. — Baltimore  American. 

Twenty-five  thousand  people  jammed 
Broadway  between  Bleecker  and  Bond 
streets  yesterday  noon  and  had  the  ex- 
citement of  watching  250  girls  escape 
from  a  twelve-story  loft  building  which 
was  afire. — New  York  Sun. 

7.  Miscellaneous. — There  is  an  infinite  number  of 
things  that  may  happen  at  a  fire  and  overshadow  the 
mere  fire  interest.  These  are  the  things  that  make 
one  fire  different  from  another,  and  whenever  they 
are  of  sufficient  importance  they  become  the  feature 
to  be  played  up  in  the  first  line  of  the  introduction. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  enumerate  all  the  unex- 
pected things  that  might  happen  during  a  fire.  It  is 
this  element  of  unexpected  possibilities  that  makes 
the  reporting  of  fires  interesting,  and  an  alert  re- 
porter is  ever  on  the  lookout  for  a  new  and  unusual 
development  in  the  fire  to  be  used  as  the  feature  of 
his  story.  Here  are  the  leads  of  a  few  fire  stories 
clipped  from  the  daily  newspapers : 

69 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

With  her  home  on  fire  and  the  smoke 
swirling  around  her  head,  Mrs.  B.  B. 
Blank,  a  well-known  leader  of  the  so- 
cial set  of  Roland  Park,  bravely  stood 
by  her  telephone  and  called  upon  the 
Roland  Park  Fire  Company  for  aid 
shortly  after  8  o'clock  this  morning. — 
Baltimore  Star. 

Four  charming  young  women  attired 
in  masculine  apparel  were  the  unexpect- 
ed and  embarrassed  hosts  of  four  com- 
panies of  fire  department  "laddies"  last 
night,  when  fire  fcroke  out,  etc. — Mil- 
waukee Free  Press. 

For  the  first  time  since  its  installation 
the  high-pressure  water  power  system 
was  relied  upon  solely  last  night  to 
fight  a  Broadway  fire,  and  Chief  Croker 
said  that  he  was  well  satisfied  with  its 
work.  The  fire  began  on  the  third  floor 
of  the  six-story,  etc. — New  York  Times. 


C.     FIRE  STORIES  WITH  MORE  THAN  ONE  FEATURE 

It  would  appear  from  the  foregoing  examples  that 
almost  every  fire  story  has  a  feature.  And  so  it  usu- 
ally has.  The  great  majority  of  fires  that  are  worth 
reporting  at  all  have  some  unusual  incident  con- 
nected with  them  that  overshadows  the  mere  fire 
itself.  Sometimes  the  features  are  not  of  great 
significance,  but  it  is  only  as  a  last  resort  that  a  re- 

70 


THE    FEATURE    FIRE   STORY 

porter  begins  his  story  with  "Fire" — only  when  the 
most  ordinary  of  fires  is  to  be  covered. 

Unusual  features  are  so  common  in  connection 
with  fires  that  very  often  a  single  fire  has  more  than 
one  unusual  feature.  Perhaps  the  cause  of  the  fire 
is  exceptionally  striking  and  at  the  same  time  the 
amount  of  property  destroyed  is  of  great  news  value 
in  itself.  Or  the  time  and  some  unexpected  attend- 
ant circumstance  are  both  worth  the  first  place.  In 
that  case  the  reporter  has  to  choose  between  the  two 
features  and  begin  with  the  one  that  seems  to  him 
to  be  the  more  striking.  The  other  feature  or  feat- 
ures may  often  be  arranged  in  the  order  of  impor- 
tance immediately  after  the  most  striking  fact  at 
the  beginning,  provided  that  this  does  not  make  the 
lead  unduly  complicated. 

For  instance,  a  cold  storage  warehouse  burns  and 
four  firemen  are  overcome  by  the  fumes  from  the 
ammonia  pipes.  Next  door  is  a  hospital  and  the 
flames  frighten  the  patients  almost  into  a  panic. 
Either  one  of  these  incidents  is  worth  the  first  line 
of  the  story.  But  which  one  is  of  the  greater  im- 
portance? Naturally  the  element  of  danger  to  hu- 
man life  must  be  considered  first  and  the  actual  dis- 
abling of  four  firemen  is  of  greater  significance  than 
a  possible  panic  in  the  hospital.  Following  that  line 
of  logic  our  story  would  begin : 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 


Four  firemen  were  overcome  by  am- 
monia fumes  and  a  panic  in  the  St. 
Charles  Hospital  was  narrowly  averted, 
as  a  result  of  a  fire  which  destroyed 
the  cold  storage  warehouse  of,  etc. 


Such  a  lead  would  not  be  too  complicated  for 
practical  purposes.  But  suppose  that  around  the 
corner  from  the  cold  storage  warehouse  is  a  livery 
in  which  fifty  horses  are  stabled.  The  flames 
frighten  the  horses  and  they  break  loose  and  stam- 
pede in  the  streets.  The  story  now  has  three  fea- 
tures of  striking  interest.  It  would  be  possible  to 
combine  them  all  in  the  lead  and  to  begin  in  this 
way: 


Four  firemen  were  overcome  by  am- 
monia fumes,  a  panic  was  narrowly 
averted  in  the  St.  Charles  Hospital,  and 
fifty  frightened  horses  stampeded  in  the 
streets  as  a  result  of  a  fire,  etc. 


But  see  how  far  from  the  beginning  the  fire,  the 
actual  cause  of  it  all,  is  placed.  The  fire  is  buried 
behind  a  mass  of  details  and  the  reader  is  confused. 
The  lead  is  not  a  happy  one.  The  only  thing  to  do 
is  to  break  up  the  mass  of  details  and  put  part  of 
them  immediately  after  the  lead.  The  arrangement 
is  a  matter  that  must  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  the 
reporter. 

72 


THE    FEATURE    FIRE    STORY 

This,  however,  is  an  extreme  case  because  the  vari- 
ous features  are  so  disconnected  and  separate.  The 
reporter  would  have  little  trouble  if  the  several  feat- 
ures were  more  alike.  For  instance,  if  one  of  the 
walls  of  the  building  had  fallen  and  killed  three  fire- 
men the  case  would  have  been  simpler.  The  death 
of  these  men  so  far  overshadows  the  other  unusual 
incidents  that  it  drives  them  out  of  the  lead  alto- 
gether. For  we  do  not  care  about  horses  and  fright- 
ened patients  when  men  are  crushed  beneath  falling 
walls.  All  that  we  are  concerned  with  in  our  lead 
now  is  the  dead  and  injured — with  a  feature  like 
this  we  can  trust  our  readers  to  go  into  the  story  far 
enough  to  pick  up  the  other  interesting  features ;  we 
would  begin  in  this  way : 

Three  firemen  were  killed  by  falling 
walls  and  four  others  were  overcome  by 
ammonia  fumes  in  a  fire  which  de- 
stroyed the  cold  storage,  etc. 

The  combination  of  dead  and  injured  makes  a 
good  beginning,  and  it  is  always  advisable  to  begin 
with  such  an  enumeration  whenever  it  is  possible. 
Where  the  features  are  not  so  significant  as  death 
and  injuries  the  matter  of  arranging  more  than  one 
striking  detail  at  the  beginning  of  the  lead  becomes 
a  greater  problem.  It  must  be  left  to  one's  own 
judgment  and  common  sense.  The  lead  must  not  be 

73 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

too  long  or  complicated,  and  one  must  hesitate  be- 
fore burying  the  really  important  facts  of  the  story 
behind  several  lines  of  more  or  less  unusual  details. 
Just  as  soon  as  the  lead  becomes  at  all  confusing  take 
out  the  details  and  put  them  into  the  story  later. 


VII 

FAULTS   IN    NEWS    STORIES 

Before  we  go  on  to  the  consideration  of  other 
kinds  of  news  stories  it  will  be  well  to  consider  in 
greater  detail  the  facts  we  have  learned  from  writing 
up  fires.  Our  fire  stories  should  have  taught  us  a 
number  of  things  about  the  form  of  the  news  story. 
Let  us  sum  them  up. 

Paragraph  length. — We  have  seen  that  newspa- 
per writing  has  a  characteristic  style  of  its  own.  In 
the  first  place  notice  the  length  of  a  newspaper  para- 
graph. Count  the  number  of  words  in  an  average 
paragraph  and  compare  it  with  the  number  of  words 
in  a  literary  paragraph.  We  find  that  the  newspaper 
paragraph  is  much  shorter.  There  is  a  reason  for 
this.  Imagine  a  1 50- word  literary  paragraph  set  up 
in  a  newspaper.  There  are  about  seven  words  to 
the  line  in  a  newspaper  column  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty  words  would  make  something  over  twenty  lines. 
Try  to  picture  a  newspaper  made  up  of  twenty-line 
paragraphs;  it  would  be  extremely  difficult  to  read. 

75 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

We  glance  over  a  newspaper  hastily  and  our  haste 
requires  many  breaks  to  help  us  in  gathering  the 
facts.  Hence  the  paragraphs  must  be  short ;  the  very 
narrowness  of  the  newspaper  column  causes  them  to 
be  shortened.  The  average  lead,  you  will  find;  con- 
tains less  than  fifty  words  and  the  paragraphs  fol- 
lowing it  are  not  much  longer. 

Sentence  length — Notice  sentence  lengths  as  com- 
pared with  literary  sentences.  You  will  find  that 
newspaper  sentences  usually  fall  into  two  classes :  the 
sentences  in  the  lead  and  the  sentences  in  the  body 
of  the  story.  The  first  sentence  is  usually  rather 
long — thirty  to  sixty  words.  But  the  sentences  in 
the  body  of  the  story  are  much  shorter  than  most 
literary  sentences.  Why  is  this?  It  results  from 
exactly  the  same  thing  that  makes  the  newspaper 
paragraphs  short — the  need  of  many  breaks.  Thus, 
after  we  finish  a  lead,  we  must  fall  into  short  sen- 
tences. They  need  not  be  choppy  sentences,  but  they 
must  be  simple  and  easy  to  read. 

THE  LEAD  AND  THE  BODY  OF  THE  STORY 

Our  study  of  the  fire  story  has  shown  that  news- 
paper stories  always  have  two  separate  and  distinct 
parts :  the  lead  and  the  body  of  the  story.  In  writ- 
ing the  story  a  reporter  must  consider  each  part 


FAULTS    IN    NEWS    STORIES 

separately,  although  the  reader  does  not  distinguish 
between  the  two  parts.  Before  writing  a  word  the 
reporter  must  decide  exactly  what  facts  and  details 
he  is  to  put  in  the  lead  and  exactly  what  fact  he  is 
going  to  play  up  in  the  first  line,  taking  care  to  be- 
gin with  the  most  interesting  part  of  the  story. 
After  the  lead  is  finished  he  writes  the  main  body  of 
the  story  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  ordinary 
English  composition.  Each  part  must  be  separate 
and  independent  of  the  other. 

The  Lead. — The  lead  itself  is  always  paragraphed 
separately.  Usually  it  consists  of  a  single  sentence, 
although  it  is  much  better  to  break  it  into  two  than 
to  make  the  sentence  too  long  and  complicated.  As 
we  have  said  before,  the  lead  must  not  only  tell  the 
most  interesting  fact  or  incident  in  the  story,  but  it 
must  answer  the  natural  questions  that  the"  reader 
immediately  asks  about  this  matter;  i.e.,  when, 
where,  what,  why,  who,  and  how.  These  questions 
must  be  answered  briefly  and  concisely  in  their  order 
of  importance,  and  the  most  unusual  answer  or  the 
most  striking  part  of  the  story  must  precede  all  the 
rest.  Beyond  the  answers  to  these  questions  there 
is  no  space  for  details  in  the  lead.  Every  word  must 
have  a  purpose  and  a  necessary  purpose  or  it  must 
be  cut  out  and  relegated  to  the  body  of  the  story. 
No  space  should  be  given  to  explanations  of  minor 

77 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

importance.  State  the  content  of  the  news  story  as 
completely,  accurately,  and  concisely  as  possible  so 
that  the  reader  may  know  just  what  happened,  when 
it  happened,  where,  to  whom,  and  perhaps  how  and 
why  it  happened.  Then  begin  a  new  paragraph  and 
start  the  body  of  the  story. 

Many  editors  require  that  the  lead  consist  of  one 
long  sentence  and  yet  it  must  be  grammatical. 
Many  reporters  forget  all  about  English  grammar 
in  their  attempt  to  crowd  everything  they  know  into 
one  sentence.  But  mere  quantity  does  not  make  the 
lead  good ;  it  must  be  grammatical  and  easy  to  read. 
The  verb  must  have  a  grammatical  subject  and,  if  it 
is  an  active  verb,  it  must  have  a  grammatical  predi- 
cate. Clauses  and  modifiers  must  be  attached  in  a 
way  that  cannot  be  overlooked.  Dangling  partici- 
ples and  absolute  constructions  should  be  shunned. 
All  of  the  modifying  clauses  must  be  gathered  to- 
gether either  before  or  after  the  principal  clause. 
Everything  must  be  compact  and  logical.  Many  pa- 
pers disregard  this  matter,  as  will  be  seen  in  some 
of  the  extracts  quoted  in  this  book,  but  the  best 
papers  do  not. 

Every  lead  should  be  so  constructed  that  it  may 
stand  alone  and  be  self-sufficient.  Never  should  a 
reporter  trust  to  headlines  to  enlighten  his  readers 
upon  the  meaning  of  the  lead — the  exact  reverse  of 

78 


FAULTS    IN    NEWS    STORIES 

this  must  be  true.  The  story  is  written  first  and  the 
headlines  are  written  from  the  facts  contained  in 
the  lead — and  usually  by  another  man.  In  writing 
the  lead  disregard  the  existence  of  headlines,  for 
many  readers  do  not  read  them  at  all.  This  is  but 
an  amplification  of  the  old  rule  of  composition  that 
any  piece  of  writing  should  be  independent  of  its 
title.  The  title  may  be  lost,  but  the  essay  must  be 
clear  without  it. 

There  are  many  ways  of  beginning  a  lead  in  order 
to  embody  the  feature  in  the  first  line.  At  first 
glance  the  operation  of  putting  the  emphasis  of  a 
sentence  at  the  beginning,  rather  than  at  the  end, 
may  seem  difficult,  but  with  a  clear  idea  of  the  rules 
of  dependence  in  English  grammar  a  reporter  may 
transpose  any  clause  to  the  beginning  and  thus  play 
up  the  content  of  the  clause.  For  instance,  in  this 
lead, 

Fire,  starting  in  a  moving  picture  the- 
atre, 4418  Third  avenue,  drove  the  ten- 
ants of  the  building  out  into  the  icy 
street  while  the  snowstorm  was  at  its 
height  shortly  before  12  o'clock  last 
night. 

the  striking  feature  of  the  story  is  buried — we  do 
not  get  the  unusual  picture  of  a  little  group  of  peo- 
ple shivering  in  the  street  during  a  blinding  snow- 

79 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

storm  while  they  watch  their  homes  burn.  A  simple 
transposition  of  the  z£//«/£-clause  puts  the  feature  in 
the  first  line.  Thus : 


While  the  snowstorm  was  at  its 
height  shortly  before  12  o'clock  last 
night,  fire,  starting  in  a  moving  picture 
theatre,  4418  Third  avenue,  drove  the 
tenants  of  the  building  out  into  the 
icy  street. 


The  lead  is  not  perfect  now ;  it  might  be  greatly  im- 
proved, but  it  is  better  than  before. 

A  few  of  the  possible  beginnings  for  a  lead  are : 
I.  Noun. — The  simplest  beginning  of  a  lead  is  of 
course  the  use  of  a  noun  as  subject  of  the  principal 
verb.  For  example,  "Fire  destroyed  the  residence 
of "  or  "A  flashlight  setting  fire  to  a  lace  cur- 
tain started  a  fire "  or  "The  Plaza  Hotel  had  a 

few   uncomfortable  moments   last   night '    etc. 

The  subject  of  the  verb  may  of  course  have  its  modi- 
fiers— adjectives  and  phrases — but  it  should  not  be 
separated  too  widely  from  its  verb.  One  point  is  to 
be  noted  in  the  use  of  a  simple  noun  at  the  begin- 
ning ;  an  article  should  not  precede  the  noun  if  it  can 
be  avoided,  for  the  very  simple  reason  that  an  article 
is  not  worth  the  important  space  that  it  takes  at  the 
beginning  of  the  lead.  In  the  case  of  fire  no  article 
is  necessary.  In  other  cases  it  is  usually  possible  to 

80 


FAULTS    IN    NEWS    STORIES 

put  in  an  adjective  or  some  other  word  that  will  take 
the  article's  place.  However,  never  begin  a  story 
like  this :  "Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  de- 
cided  "  or  "Young  man  in  evening  dress  was 

arrested  last  night "  or  "House  of  John  Smith 

was  destroyed  yesterday "  Obviously  some- 
thing is  lacking  and,  if  no  other  word  will  supply  the 
lack,  use  the  article,  the  or  a.  When  the  noun-be- 
ginning is  used  the  reporter  must  never  forget  that 
two  or  more  nouns,  however  different,  if  subject  of 
the  same  verb,  require  a  plural  verb.  The  verb  may 
be  active  or  passive,  whichever  is  more  convenient, 
but  rarely  is  the  object  of  an  active  verb  put  first— 
simply  because  English  cannot  bear  this  transposi- 
tion of  subject  and  predicate. 

2.  Infinitive. — Other  parts  of  speech  aside  from 
nouns  may  be  subjects  of  verbs  and  so  other  parts 
of  speech  as  subjects  of  the  principal  verb  of  the 
lead  may  be  placed  at  the  beginning  of  the  lead.  An 
infinitive  with  its  object  and  modifier  may  occupy 
the  first  line  as  subject  of  the  main  verb ;  e.g. : 

To  rescue  his  own  son  during  the 
burning  of  his  own  house  was  a  part 
of  yesterday's  work  for  Fireman  Mich- 
ael Casey,  who,  etc. 

Here  the  infinitive  "to  rescue"  and  its  object  are  the 
subject  of  the  verb  "was,"  and  the  construction  is 

81 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

perfectly  grammatical.  Unfortunately  the  English 
language  has  another  infinitive  which  very  much  re- 
sembles a  present  participle — the  infinitive  ending 
in  -ing;  e.g.,  rescuing.  Without  an  article  this  part 
of  speech  must,  of  course,  be  used  only  as  an  ad- 
jective, but  with  an  article  it  becomes  an  infinitive, 
to  be  treated  as  a  noun;  e.g.,  the  rescuing  of.  It 
would  be  perfectly  grammatical  to  begin  the  above 
lead  in  this  way :  "The  rescuing  of  his  own  son  .  .  . 
was  the  work,  etc."  But  it  would  be  ungrammatical 
to  begin  it  thus:  "Rescuing  his  own  son  was  the 
work,  etc."  For  in  the  second  case  the  word  "rescu- 
ing," if  used  with  an  object,  is  not  an  infinitive  but  a 
participle,  and  must  be  used  only  as  an  adjective, 
thus:  "Rescuing  his  own  son,  Fireman  Casey  per- 
formed his  duty,  etc.,"  or  "In  rescuing  his  own  son, 
Fireman  Casey  performed  his  duty."  The  two  uses 
should  never  be  confused. 

3.  Clause. — Another  expression  that  may  be  used 
as  subject  of  the  lead's  principal  verb  is  a  clause — 
usually  a  thai-clause.     For  instance,  "That  the  en- 
tire wholesale  district  was  not  destroyed  by  fire  last 
night  is  due  to,  etc."    Here  the  //uz£-clause  is  subject 
of  the  verb  is  and  the  expression  is  entirely  gram- 
matical as  well  as  very  useful  as  a  beginning. 

4.  Prepositional  Phrase. — When  the  feature  of  a 
story  is  an  action  rather  than  a  thing,  a  noun  can 

82 


FAULTS    IN    NEWS    STORIES 

hardly  be  used  to  express  it.  Very  often  this  lead 
may  be  handled  by  means  of  a  prepositional  phrase 
at  the  beginning.  For  example,  one  of  the  stories 
in  the  last  chapter  begins :  "With  her  home  on  fire 
and  with  smoke  swirling  around  her  head,  Mrs. 
John,  etc."  In  this  case  the  prepositional  phrase 
modifies  the  subject  and  should  not  be  far  from  it. 
Another  variation  of  this  is  the  prepositional  phrase 
of  time,  modifying  the  verb ;  e.g.,  "During  the  wed- 
ding of  Miss  Mary  Jones,  last  night,  the  house  sud- 
denly caught  fire,  etc."  This  beginning  is  effective 
if  it  is  not  overworked,  but  the  reader  should  never 
be  held  back  from  the  real  facts  of  the  story  by  a 
string  of  complicated  phrases,  intended  to  build  up 
suspense. 

5.  Participial  Phrase. — Very  much  like  the  prep- 
ositional phrase  beginning  is  the  participial  begin- 
ning. "Sliding  down  an  eighty-foot  extension  lad- 
der with  a  woman  in  his  arms,  Fireman  John  Casey 
rescued,  etc."  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
participial  phrase  must  modify  a  noun  and  there 
should  be  no  doubt  in  the  reader's  mind  as  to  the 
noun  that  it  modifies.  It  would  of  course  be  absurd 
to  say  "Sliding  down  an  eighty-foot  extension  lad- 
der, fire  seriously  burned  John  Casey ,"  but 

such  things  are  often  said.     Never  should  this  par- 
ticipial phrase  be  used  as  the  subject  of  a  verb,  as 
7  83 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

"Returning  home  and  finding  her  house  in  ashes  was 
the  unusual  experience  of  Mrs.  James,  etc."  The 
phrase  must  always  modify  a  noun  just  like  an  ad- 
jective. 

6.  Temporal   Clause. — A   feature   may   often  be 
brought  to  the  beginning  of  the  lead  by  a  simple 
transposition  of  clauses.      Should  the  time  be  im- 
portant a  subordinate  when  or  while  clause  may  pre- 
cede the  principal  clause  of  the  sentence;  i.e.,  "When 
the  snowstorm  was  at  its  height  early  this  morning, 
a  three-story  brick  building  burned,  etc.,"  or  "While 
15,000  people  watched  from  the  street  below,  250 
girls  escaped  from  the  burning  building  at,  etc." 

7.  Causal  Clause. — Should  the  cause  of  an  action 
or  an  occurrence  be  attractive  enough  for  the  first 
line,  a  for  or  a  because  clause  may  begin  the  lead. 
"Because  a  tinsmith  upset  a  pot  of  molten  solder  on 
the  roof  of  pier  No.  19,  two  steamers  Were  burned, 
etc." 

This  does  not  exhaust  the  list  of  possible  begin- 
nings. There  are  a  dozen  possible  constructions  for 
the  beginning  of  any  story;  these  are  merely  the 
commonest  ones.  Anything  unusual  or  of  doubtful 
grammar  should  be  avoided  because  of  the  many 
possible  alternatives  that  present  themselves.  And 
in  every  lead  correct  grammar  should  be  considered 


FAULTS    IN    NEWS    STORIES 

above  all  else.  If  a  lead  is  ungrammatical  no  clever 
arrangement  of  details  can  make  it  effective  or  other 
than  ludicrous/  For  instance,  this  lead,  taken  from 
a  newspaper,  illustrates  an  unfortunate  attempt  to 
crowd  too  many  details  into  a  short  lead : 

Bitten  by  &  rattlesnake,  Myrtle  Ol- 
son's leg.  was  slashed  with  a  table  knife, 
washed  the  wound  with  kerosene,  then 
covered  the  incision  with  salt  by  her 
mother.  Myrtle  still  lives. 

Another  paper  tried  to  arrange  it  more  happily, 
thus: 

Bitten  by  a  rattlesnake,  Myrtle  Ol- 
son's mother  slashed  her  daughter's  leg 
with  a  table  knife,  washed  the  wound 
with  kerosene,  then  covered  the  incision 
with  salt.  Myrtle  still  lives. 

There  is  evidently  something  wrong  in  this.  It 
would  be  a  good  exercise  to  try  to  express  the  idea 
grammatically. 

Before  we  go  on  to  the  consideration  of  the  body 
of  this  story  a  few  Dorits  in  regard  to  writing  leads 
may  be  in  order. 

Don't  begin  a  lead  with  a  person's  name  unless 
the  person  is  well  known.  We  are  always  interested 
in  anything  unusual  that  a  man  may  do  or  anything 

85 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

unusual  that  he  may  suffer,  but  unless  we  know  the 
man  we  are  not  at  all  interested  in  his  name.  Sup- 
pose that  a  man  performs  some  thrilling  act  or  suf- 
fers some  unusual  misfortune  in  a  city  of  100,000 
people.  Probably  not  more  than  one  hundred  people 
know  him,  and  of  that  number  only  one  or  two  will 
read  the  story.  Then  why  begin  with  his  name  when 
his  action  is  of  greater  interest  to  all  but  a  few  of 
our  readers  ?  And  yet  every  reader  wants  to  know 
whether  the  victim  is  one  of  his  friends.  Therefore 
the  man's  name  must  be  mentioned  in  the  lead,  al- 
though it  should  not  come  at  the  beginning.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  the  man  is  prominent  in  the  nation  or 
the  community  and  well  known  to  all  our  readers,  his 
name  adds  interest  to  the  story  and  we  begin  with 
the  name.  There  is  a  growing  tendency  among 
American  newspapers  to  begin  all  of  their  stories 
with  a  name.  The  tendency  appears  to  be  the  result 
of  an  attempt  to  break  away  from  the  conventional 
lead  and  to  begin  in  a  more  natural  way — also  an 
easier  way.  But  the  name  beginning  is  after  all 
illogical,  and  any  reporter  is  safe  in  following  the 
logical  course  in  the  matter.  If  the  name  is  not 
important  begin  with  something  that  is  important. 

Don't  waste  the  main  verb  of  the  sentence  on  a 
minor  action  while  expressing  the  principal  action  in 
a  subordinate  clause.  This  is  a  violation  of  empha- 

86 


FAULTS   IN   NEWS    STORIES 

sis.  For  example,  "Fatally  burned  by  an  explosion 
in  his  laundry,  Hing  Lee  was  taken  to  the  hospital." 
Naturally  he  would  be  taken  to  the  hospital,  but  why 
put*  the  emphasis  of  the  whole  sentence  on  that 
point  ? 

Don't  resort  to  the  expression  "was  the  unusual 

experience  of "  "was  the  fate  of "  or  any 

like  them.  Every  word  in  the  lead  must  count,  and 
here  are  five  words  that  say  nothing  at  all.  Use  their 
place  to  tell  what  the  unusual  experience  was.  For 
instance,  don't  say  "To  stand  in  a  driving  snowstorm 
and  watch  their  homes  burn  to  the  ground  was  the 
unusual  experience  of  two  families,  living  at,  etc."; 
say  instead,  "Standing  in  a  driving  snowstorm  two 
families  watched  their  homes  burn  to  the  ground." 
The  latter  says  the  same  thing  more  effectively  in 
less  space.  The  use  of  this  expression — "was  the 
unusual  experience  of" — is  always  the  mark  of  a 
green  reporter. 

Don't  overwork  the  expression  "Fire  broke  out." 
All  fires  "break  out,"  but  usually  we  are  more  in- 
terested in  the  result  of  the  fire  than  in  its  "breaking 
out."  Try  to  use  some  expression  that  will  give 
more  definite  information. 

Don't  be  wordy.  Editors  are  always  calling  for 
shorter  and  more  concise  leads.  If  you  can  say  a 
thing  in  two  words  don't  use  half  a  dozen.  For  ex- 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING - 


ample,  "Four  members  of  the  local  fire  department 
were  rendered  unconscious  by  the  deadly  fumes  from 
bursting  ammonia  pipes."  This  takes  three  times  as 
much  space  as  "Four  firemen  were  overcome  by  am- 
monia fumes,"  and  it  does  not  express  the  idea  any 
more  effectively. 

Don't  introduce  minor  details  into  the  lead.  If 
the  reader  wants  the  details  he  may  read  the  rest  of 
the  story.  Take  the  following  lead  as  an  example : 


Rushing  back  into  his  burning  laun- 
dry, a  one-story  brick  building,  to  res- 
cue from  the  flames  his  savings, 
amounting  to  $437,  with  which  he  hoped 
to  raise  himself  from  the  rank  of  la- 
borer to  that  of  a  prosperous  merchant, 
and  which  was  hidden  under  the  mat- 
tress of  his  bed  in  the  back  room  of  the 
laundry,  King  Lee,  a  Chinaman,  who 
lives  at  79  Nicollett  avenue  and  has 
been  in  this  country  but  three  months, 
was  overcome  by  smoke  and  so  seri- 
ously burned  that  he  had  to  be  removed 
to  the  St.  Mary  Hospital  and  may  not 
live,  when  his  establishment  was  de- 
stroyed by  a  fire  which,  starting  from 
the  explosion  of  the  tank  of  the  gasolene 
stove  on  which  he  was  cooking  his  din- 
ner, gutted  his  laundry,  entailing  a  loss 
of  $1,000,  shortly  before  noon  to-day. 


It  is  entirely  grammatical,  but  if  the  reader  succeeds 
in  wading  through  it  there  is  nothing  left  to  tell 


FAULTS    IN    NEWS    STORIES 

about  the  fire.    Why  not  begin  the  story  in  this  way 
and  leave  something  for  the  rest  of  the  story? 


Because  he  rushed  back  into  his  burn- 
ing laundry  to  rescue  his  savings,  King 
Lee,  a  Chinese  laundryman,  79  Nicollett 
avenue,  was  seriously  burned  to-day. 


Don't  waste  the  first  line  of  the  lead  on  meaning- 
less generalities.  Get  down  to  the  facts  at  once. 
For  instance,  "The  presence  of  mind  and  bravery  of 
Fireman  David  Mullen  saved  Mrs.  Daniel  Looker 
from  being  burned  to  death  in  her  flat,  etc."  We  are 
willing  to  grant  his  bravery  and  presence  of  mind, 
but  we  want  to  know  at  once  what  he  did:  "By 
sliding  down  an  eighty-foot  extension  ladder  through 
flames  and  smoke  with  an  unconscious  woman  in  his 
arms,  Fireman  David  Mullen  rescued  Mrs.  Daniel, 
etc."  Equally  useless  is  the  beginning,  "A  daring 
rescue  of  an  unconscious  woman  from  the  fourth 
story  of  a  blazing  flat  building  was  made  by  Fire- 
man David  Mullen  to-day,  etc."  Tell  what  the  dar- 
ing rescue  was  and  let  the  reader  manufacture  a  fit- 
ting eulogy. 

Don't  exaggerate  the  facts  to  make  a  feature. 
When  a  few  persons  are  frightened  don't  turn  it  into 
a  dreadful  panic.  Every  little  fire  is  not  a  holocaust 
and  the  burning  of  a  small  barn  does  not  endanger 

89 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

the  entire  city,  unless  your  imagination  is  strong 
enough  to  guess  what  might  have  happened  had 
there  been  a  high  wind  and  no  fire  engines.  A  nar- 
row escape  from  death  does  not  always  excuse  the 
beginning,  "Scores  killed  and  injured  would  have 

been  the  result,  if "    All  beginnings  of  this  kind 

give  a  false  impression  and  do  not  tell  the  truth.  If 
a  story  has  no  striking  feature  be  satisfied  to  tell  the 
truth  about  it  without  trying  to  make  a  world-wide 
disaster  out  of  it  for  the  sake  of  a  place  on  the  front 
page.  Exaggeration  for  a  feature  is  one  of  the  bad 
elements  of  sensational  journalism.  For  example, 
seven  lives  were  lost  in  this  fire,  but  this  is  the 
way  the  story  was  written,  for  the  sake  of  a  three- 
column  scare-head: 

That  500  sleeping  babes  and  100  more 
who  were  kneeling  in  prayer  in  St. 
Malachi's  Home,  a  Roman  Catholic  in- 
stitution for  the  care  of  orphans  at 
Rockaway  Park,  are  alive  to-day  is  due 
to  the  coolness  of  the  nuns  in  charge 
and  the  children's  remembrance  of  their 
teacher's  fire  drills. 

The  suspense  is  built  up  in  such  a  way  that  at  the 
end  of  the  lead  we  do  not  know  what  happened  and 
read  on  with  breathless  interest  to  find  that  there 
was  a  small  fire  at  the  Home  and  seven  children 
were  burned. 

90 


FAULTS    IN    NEWS    STORIES 

The  Body  of  the  Story. — "A  good  beginning  is 
half  done,"  according  to  the  proverb.  In  writing  a 
news  story  a  good  beginning  is  more  than  half  done 
— two-thirds  at  least.  The  lead  is  the  beginning, 
and  when  that  has  been  written  we  are  ready  to  go 
on  to  the  body  of  the  story  with  a  clear  conscience. 

Our  lead  has  told  the  reader  the  main  facts  of  the 
case  and  the  most  unusual  feature.  If  he  reads 
further  he  is  looking  for  details.  In  giving  him  these 
we  return  to  the  ordinary  rules  of  narration.  We 
start  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  story  and  tell  it 
logically  and  in  detail  to  the  end.  We  tell  it  as 
if  no  lead  preceded  it  and  repeat  in  greater  detail  the 
incidents  briefly  outlined  in  the  lead.  Never  should 
the  body  of  the  story  depend  upon  the  lead  for  clear- 
ness. If  the  feature  of  the  story  is  a  rescue  and  you 
have  briefly  described  the  rescue  in  the  lead,  ignore 
the  lead  and  describe  the  rescue  all  over  again  in 
the  body  of  the  story  in  its  proper  place.  The  num- 
ber of  details  that  are  to  be  introduced  into  the  story 
is  limited  only  by  the  space  that  the  story  seems 
to  be  worth.  But  no  point  should  be  mentioned 

in  the  story  unless  space  permits  of  its  being  made 
clear. 

The  ordinary  rules  of  English  composition  apply 
to  the  writing  of  the  body  of  the  story.  The  copy 
must  be  paragraphed,  cut  up  into  paragraphs  that 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

are  rather  shorter  than  ordinary  literary  paragraphs, 
since  the  narrowness  of  the  newspaper  column  makes 
the  paragraph  seem  longer.  Heterogeneous  details 
must  not  be  piled  together  in  the  same  paragraph, 
but  the  facts  must  be  grouped  and  handled  logically. 
No  paragraph  should  be  noticeably  longer  than  the 
others,  and  it  is  decidedly  bad  to  paragraph  one  sen- 
tence alone  simply  because  it  does  not  seem  to  go  in 
with  any  other  sentence.  If  the  fact  is  important 
expand  it  into  a  paragraph  by  the  introduction  of 
further  details;  if  it  is  unimportant  either  cut  it  out 
of  the  story  altogether  or  attach  it  to  the  paragraph 
to  which  it  seems  most  logically  to  belong. 

One  fact,  already  stated,  must  be  borne  in  mind  as 
the  body  of  the  story  progresses.  The  report  should 
be  built  up  in  such  a  way  that  the  editor  can  slash 
off  a  paragraph  or  two  at  the  end  without  injuring 
the  story — without  sacrificing  any  important  facts. 
To  do  this  the  reporter  should  bring  the  important 
parts  of  the  story  as  near  the  beginning  as  the  logi- 
cal order  will  permit.  The  interest  of  a  perfect  news 
story  is  like  an  inverted  cone.  The  interest  is  abun- 
dant at  the  beginning  and  gradually  dwindles  out 
until  there  is  nothing  more  to  say  when  the  end  is 
reached.  Just  how  far  the  dwindling  should  be  car- 
ried depends  upon  the  amount  of  space  that  the  story 
seems  to  be  worth  in  the  paper. 

92 


FAULTS   IN    NEWS    STORIES 

This  may  seem  difficult.  It  may  be  hard  to  see 
how  a  story  can  be  told  in  its  logical  order  while  at 
the  same  time  the  most  interesting  facts  are  placed 
at  the  beginning,  even  if  they  logically  belong  near 
the  end.  For  example,  we  may  take  the  story  of  an 
unusual  robbery.  A  well-dressed  man  goes  into  a 
grocery  store  to  get  some  butter  and  tries  to  rob  the 
grocer.  In  the  ensuing  scuffle  the  would-be  robber 
escapes.  A  young  woman  who  happens  to  be  pass- 
ing sees  the  end  of  the  fight  and  pursues  the  robber 
down  the  street  until  he  runs  into  a  saloon.  She 
calls  a  policeman  who  is  standing  on  the  corner  and 
the  officer  rushes  into  the  saloon,  up  three  flights  of 
stairs  and  finds  the  robber  on  the  roof  behind  a 
chimney.  The  officer  shouts  to  another  policeman, 
and  together  they  arrest  the  robber, 

Now,  what  is  the  most  interesting  thing  in  the 
story?  Probably  the  pursuit — a  young  woman  chas- 
ing a  robber  down  the  street.  Our  lead  might  be 
written  in  this  way: 

After  being  chased  down  Sixth  street 
by  a  young  woman,  a  robber,  who  had 
attempted  to  rob  the  grocery  store  of 
Charles  Young,  1345  Sixth  street,  was 
arrested  on  the  roof  of  a  saloon  at  835 
Sixth  street,  at  7  o'clock  last  night. 

The  lead  might  be  arranged  in  a  different  way,  but 

93 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

these  are  the  facts  that  it  would  contain.  Before  we 
consider  the  arrangement  of  the  body  of  the  story 
it  may  be  well  to  go  back  to  the  interviews  by  which 
we  secured  the  story.  In  getting  the  facts  we  would 
probably  talk  to  Young,  the  groceryman,  and  to  the 
.saloonkeeper  into  whose  establishment  the  robber 
fled.  We  could  probably  interview  the  policeman 
who  made  the  arrest,  but  let  us  suppose  that  the 
young  woman  could  not  be  found.  The  groceryman 
would  tell  us  about  the  attempted  robbery  and  the 
escape,  with  the  girl  in  pursuit.  The  saloonkeeper 
would  tell  us  how  the  man  fled  into  his  saloon  and 
ran  up  the  stairs  to  the  roof;  then  how  two  police- 
men came  and  made  the  arrest.  The  policeman  could 
tell  us  how  a  young  woman  ran  up  to  him  and  told 
him  that  a  robber  had  fled  into  the  saloon;  then  he 
would  describe  the  arrest.  None  of  these  stories  is 
told  just  as  we  want  the  newspaper  story — each  one 
tells  us  only  a  part  of  the  story.  If  the  finished  story 
were  written  by  a  green  reporter  it  would  probably 
tell  the  story  in  the  order  in  which  it  was  obtained. 
That  is  if  the  reporter  saw  the  policeman  first,  then 
the  saloonkeeper,  and  lastly  the  groceryman;  his 
story  would  tell  in  the  first  paragraph  what  the  po- 
liceman said,  in  the  second  paragraph  what  the 
saloonkeeper  said,  and  in  the  last  paragraph  what  the 
grocer  said.  At  least  that  is  the  way  in  which  green 

94 


FAULTS   IN   NEWS    STORIES 

reporters  in  the  classroom  attempted  to  write  the 
story. 

But,  obviously,  that  is  not  the  logical  way  to  tell 
the  story.  The  finished  account  should  be  written  in 
the  order  in  which  it  happened :  i.e.,  first  the  robbery, 
then  the  pursuit,  and  lastly  the  arrest.  This  would 
be  the  ideal  way  to  tell  the  story — according  to  the 
rules  of  English  composition — if  we  could  be  sure 
that  the  entire  story  would  be  printed.  But  if  it 
were  written  in  this  way  and  the  editor  decided  to 
slash  off  the  last  paragraph,  what  would  go?  Ob- 
viously the  arrest  would  not  be  printed ;  and  the  ar- 
rest was  quite  interesting.  We  must  find  some  way 
to  bring  the  arrest  nearer  to  the  beginning.  This 
may  be  done  by  selecting  the  most  interesting  parts 
of  the  story — by  picking  out  the  high  spots,  as  it 
were.  In  this  story  the  high  spots  are  the  attempted 
robbery,  the  pursuit,  and  the  arrest.  The  details 
that  fill  in  between  are  interesting,  but  not  so  inter- 
esting as  these  high  spots.  Hence  these  high  spots 
of  interest  must  be  pushed  forward  toward  the  be- 
ginning. After  the  lead  the  story  would  begin  at  the 
beginning  and  tell  the  affair  briefly  by  high  spots  in 
their  proper  order.  It  might  be  something  like  this : 

As  Charles  Young  was  closing  his 
grocery  last  evening  a  young  man  came 
in  and  asked  for  a  pound  of  butter. 

95 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

Young  turned  to  get  it  and  his  cus- 
tomer struck  him  over  the  head  with  a 
chair.  The  grocer  grappled  with  his 
assailant  and  they  fell  through  the  front 
door.  In  the  scramble,  the  robber  broke 
away  and  ran  down  Sixth  street.  A 
young  woman  who  was  passing 
screamed  and  ran  after  him  until  he 
disappeared  into  a  saloon. 

The  young  woman  called  Policeman 
Smith,  who  was  standing  nearby  on 
Grand  avenue,  and  the  latter  found  the 
would-be  robber  on  the  roof  of  the  sa- 
loon. After  a  struggle,  Smith  arrested 
the  man,  with  the  aid  of  another  police- 
man. 

The  above  account  tells  us  briefly  the  most  interest- 
ing parts  of  the  story.  A  copyreader  might  not  find 
it  perfect,  for  the  assault  is  allotted  too  much  space 
and  the  pursuit  too  little,  but  it  tells  the  story  in  its 
baldest  aspect.  This,  with  the  lead,  could  be  run 
alone.  However,  perhaps  the  story  is  worth  more 
space ;  at  any  rate,  many  interesting  details  have  been 
omitted.  If  so,  go  back  to  the  most  interesting  part 
of  the  story — the  assault,  perhaps,  or  the  pursuit — 
and  tell  it  with  more  details.  Then  retell  some  other 
part  with  more  details.  If  your  readers  are  inter- 
ested enough  to  read  beyond  the  first  three  para- 
graphs they  want  details  and  will  not  be  so  particular 
about  the  order — for  they  already  know  how  the 
story  is  going  to  end. 


FAULTS    IN    NEWS    STORIES 

This  is  one  way  of  meeting  the  requirements  of 
logical  order  and  dwindling  interest.  This  is  a  par- 
ticularly hard  story  to  arrange  in  the  conventional 
way  since  we  must  have  the  whole  story  to  be  inter- 
ested in  any  single  part — it  has  too  many  striking  in- 
cidents in  it.  On  the  other  hand,  a  story  which  con- 
tains only  one  striking  incident  is  much  easier  to 
handle.  Suppose  that  we  are  reporting  a  fire  which 
is  interesting  only  for  its  cause  or  for  a  daring  res- 
cue in  it.  Our  lead  would  suggest  this  interesting 
element  and  the  first  part  of  our  story  would  be  de- 
voted entirely  to  the  cause  or  to  the  rescue,  as  the 
case  might  be.  But  it  is  better  to  sketch  briefly,  im- 
mediately after  or  very  close  to  the  lead,  the  entire 
story,  for  our  readers  want  to  know  how  it  ends 
before  they  can  be  interested  in  any  particular  part. 
If  we  sketch  the  whole  story  and  show  them  that 
there  is  only  one  important  thing  in  the  story,  they 
will  be  satisfied  to  read  about  the  one  striking  inci- 
dent without  wondering  if  there  is  not  something 
more  interesting  further  on.  If  we  leave  the  con- 
clusion of  the  story  to  the  end  of  our  copy  the  editor 
may  cut  it  off  and  leave  our  story  dangling  in  mid- 
air. Every  story  must  be  treated  in  its  own  way, 
according  to  its  own  incidents  and  difficulties;  no 
two  stories  are  alike  in  substance  or  treatment.  In 
every  one  our  aim  must  be  to  keep  to  the  logical 

97 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

order  and  at  the  same  time  to  put  the  most  interest- 
ing parts  of  the  story  near  the  beginning. 

The  construction  of  the  body  of  a  story  may  be 
illustrated  more  clearly  by  a  fatal  fire  story — since 
fire  stories  are  more  uniform,  and  hence  easier  to 
write  than  other  news  stories.  Let  us  suppose  that 
the  story  is  as  follows :  At  four  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon a  fire  started  from  some  unknown  cause  in  the 
basement  of  a  four-story  brick  building  at  383-385 
Sixth  Street,  occupied  by  the  Incandescent  Light 
Company.  Before  the  fire  company  arrived  the 
flames  had  spread  up  through  the  building  and  into 
an  adjoining  three-story  brick  building  at  381  Sixth 
Street,  occupied  by  Isaac  Schmidt's  second-hand 
store  and  home  on  the  first  and  second  floors  and  by 
Mrs.  Sarah  Jones's  boarding  house  on  the  third. 
The  Schmidts  were  away  and  Mrs.  Jones's  lodgers 
escaped  via  the  fire  escapes.  Her  cook,  Hilda 
Schultz,  was  overcome  by  smoke  and  had  to  be  car- 
ried out  by  Jack  Sweeney,  a  lodger.  Mrs.  Jones  fell 
from  the  fire  escape  and  was  badly  bruised.  Mean- 
while the  firemen  were  at  work  on  the  roof  of  the 
burning  four-story  building.  Blinded  by  the  smoke, 
one  of  them,  John  MacBane,  stepped  through  a  sky- 
light and  fell  to  the  fourth  floor.  His  comrades 
tried  to  rescue  him  by  lowering  Fireman  Henry 
Bond  into  the  smoke  by  the  heels ;  they  were  unsuc- 


FAULTS   IN    NEWS    STORIES 

cessful  and  Bond  broke  his  arm  in  the  attempt.  The 
fire  was  confined  to  the  lower  floors  of  the  two  build- 
ings and  extinguished.  In  searching  for  MacBane, 
the  firemen  found  him  suffocated  on  the  fourth  floor 
where  he  had  fallen. 

The  feature  of  the  story  is  evidently  the  one  death 
and  the  three  injuries.  Our  lead  might  be  written 
as  follows: 


One  fireman  was  suffocated  and  three 
other  persons  were  injured  in  a  fire  in 
the  Incandescent  Light  Company's  plant, 
383-385  Sixth  street,  and  an  adjoining 
three-story  building,  late  yesterday  af- 
ternoon. 


This  lead  would  suggest  to  the  reader  many  interest- 
ing details  to  come  in  the  body  of  the  story,  and  evi- 
dently the  details  are  not  all  of  equal  importance. 
The  story  could  be  told  in  its  logical  order,  but,  since 
the  death  is  more  interesting  than  the  origin  of  the 
fire  and  the  injuries  are  more  significant  than  how 
the  fire  spread,  it  is  obvious  that  it  would  not  be  best 
to  tell  the  story  in  the  order  in  which  it  is  told  above. 
Disregarding  the  lead,  we  must  cover  the  follow- 
ing details  in  the  body  of  our  story : 

Description  of  buildings  and  occupants. 
Origin  of  fire. 

8  99 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

Discovery  of  fire. 
Spread  of  flames. 
Injury  of  Mrs.  Jones. 
Rescue  of  Hilda  Schultz. 
Death  of  MacBane. 
Injury  of  Bond. 
Fire  extinguished. 

This  is  the  order  in  which  things  occurred  at  the  fire. 
However,  in  our  lead,  we  have  drawn  attention  to 
our  story  by  announcing  that  it  concerns  a  fire  in 
which  a  man  was  killed ;  the  death  therefore  should 
have  first  place  in  the  body  of  the  story.  Hence,  in 
the  second  paragraph  immediately  after  the  lead,  we 
must  tell  how  MacBane  fell  through  the  skylight 
and  was  suffocated.  Along  with  his  death  we  may 
as  well  tell  how  Bond  broke  his  arm  trying  to  rescue 
MacBane.  Our  lead  has  also  announced  two  other 
injuries  and,  hence,  they  must  be  included  next — 
that  is,  our  third  paragraph  must  be  devoted  to  the 
injury  of  Mrs.  Jones  and  the  rescue  of  the  uncon- 
scious Hilda.  But  as  yet  our  details  are  hanging  in 
the  air  because  we  have  not  said  anything  about  the 
buildings  or  the  fire  itself.  In  the  next  paragraph 
it  would  be  well  to  describe  the  buildings  and  their 
occupants  and  to  give  a  very  brief  account  of  the 
course  of  the  fire — perhaps  in  this  way: 

100 


FAULTS   IN   NEWS  -STORIES 


Flames  were  first '  di'ScoVere<£  in 
basement  of  the  Incandescent  building 
and  before  the  fire  department  arrived 
had  spread  through  the  lower  floors  and 
into  the  adjoining  three-story  building. 
The  absence  of  elevator  shafts  and  air- 
shafts  enabled  the  firemen  to  extinguish 
the  blaze  before  it  reached  the  upper 
floors. 


This  tells  the  main  course  of  the  fire,  but  there  are 
some  interesting  details  to  add:  first,  the  origin  of 
the  fire;  next,  the  discovery;  then  more  about  how 
the  fire  spread;  and  lastly,  how  the  fire  was  extin- 
guished. Our  story  by  paragraphs  would  read  as 
follows : 

i  st  Paragraph — The  lead. 

2d  Paragraph — Death  of  MacBane  and  injury  of 
Bond. 

3d  Paragraph — Mrs.  Jones's  injury  and  Hilda's 
rescue. 

4th  Paragraph — Buildings,  occupants,  brief  course 
of  fire. 

5th  Paragraph — Detailed  account  of  origin  of  the 
fire. 

6th  Paragraph — How  the  fire  was  discovered. 

7th  Paragraph — More  about  the  spread  and 
course  of  the  fire. 

8th  Paragraph — How  the  fire  was  extinguished. 

101 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 
Paragraph  —  Loss,  insurance,  extent  of  dam- 


age, 


Thus,  while  telling  the  story  almost  in  its  logical 
order,  we  have  picked  out  the  high  spots  of  interest 
and  crowded  them  to  the  beginning.  Our  readers 
will  get  the  facts  just  about  as  fast  as  they  wish  to 
read  them  and  in  the  order  in  which  they  wish  them. 
Our  story  may  be  run  in  nine  paragraphs  or  even 
more  ;  or  the  editor  may  slash  off  anything  after  the 
fourth  paragraph  without  taking  away  any  of  the 
essential  facts  of  the  fire.  This  method  of  telling 
would  fulfill  all  the  requirements  of  an  ideal  news 
story.  A  similar  outline  of  the  facts  that  any  story 
must  present  will  often  help  a  reporter  to  tell.  his 
story  as  it  should  be  told.  After  listing  the  details 
he  may  number  them  in  their  order  of  importance 
and  check  them  off  as  he  has  told  them. 

This  idea  of  throwing  the  emphasis  and  interest 
to  the  beginning  applies  to  the  individual  paragraphs 
and  sentences  of  the  story,  as  well.  Each  paragraph 
must  begin  strongly  and  display  its  most  interesting 
content  in  the  first  line.  The  emphatic  part  of  each 
sentence  should  be  the  beginning.  A  glance  at  any 
newspaper  column  shows  why  this  is  necessary. 

The  body  of  a  news  story  is  the  place  for  the  re- 

IO2 


FAULTS    IN    NEWS    STORIES 

porter's  skill  and  style.  He  is  given  all  the  liberties 
of  ordinary  narration  and  should  make  the  most  of 
every  word.  His  individual  style  comes  into  play 
here.  If  the  interest  can  be  increased  by  a  bit  of 
dialogue  the  reporter  may  put  it  in.  If  the  facts 
can  be  presented  more  effectively  by  means  of  direct 
quotation,  the  words  of  any  one  whom  the  reporter 
has  interviewed  may  be  of  interest.  However,  these 
things  must  not  be  overworked  because  every  trick 
of  writing  loses  its  effectiveness  when  it  is  over- 
worked. 

Dialogue  used  only  to  give  facts  which  might  be 
told  more  clearly  in  simple  direct  form  should  seldom 
be  used.  Dialogue  in  a  news  story  is  used  only  to 
color  the  story  and  not  to  reproduce  the  interviews 
by  which  the  facts  were  obtained.  In  gathering  the 
facts  of  a  story  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  inter- 
view a  number  of  people,  but  these  interviews  should 
not  be  quoted  in  the  resulting  story.  Many  a  green 
reporter  tries  to  give  his  story  character  by  telling 
what  the  policeman  on  the  corner,  the  janitor,  and  a 
small  boy  in  the  street  told  him  about  the  incident. 
He  succeeds  only  in  dragging  out  the  length  of  his 
story  and  confusing  the  reader.  After  all,  the  pur- 
pose of  a  newspaper  is  to  give  facts — and  the  clearer 
and  the  more  direct  the  method  the  better  will  be 
the  result. 

103 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

In  striving  for  clearness  and  interest  a  reporter 
must  remember  that  one  of  his  greatest  assets  is  con- 
creteness  of  expression.  Of  all  forms  of  composi- 
tion newspaper  writing  possesses  probably  the  great- 
est opportunity  for  defmiteness.  Facts  and  events 
are  its  one  concern;  theories  and  abstractions  are 
beyond  its  range.  Hence  the  more  definite  and  con- 
crete its  presentation  of  facts,  the  better  will  be  its 
effect.  The  reporter  should  never  generalize  or 
present  his  statements  hazily  and  uncertainly — a  fact 
is  a  fact  and  must  be  presented  as  such.  He  must 
try  to  avoid  such  expressions  as  "several,"  "many," 
"a  few" — it  is  usually  possible  to  give  the  exact 
number.  He  must  continually  ask  himself  "how 
many?"  "what  kind?"  "exactly  when?"  "exactly 
what?"  Expressions  like  "about  a  dozen,"  "about 
thirty  years  old,"  "about  a  week  ago,"  "about  a 
block  away,"  are  never  so  effective  as  the  exact  facts 
and  figures.  Definite  concrete  details  make  a  news 
story  real  and  vivid.  The  real  reporter  of  news  is 
the  one  who  can  see  a  thing  clearly  and  with  every 
detail  and  present  it  as  clearly  and  distinctly. 


VIII 

OTHER   NEWS    STORIES 

-  The  fire  story  is  obviously  not  the  only  news  story 
that  is  printed  in  a  daily  newspaper,  but  a  study  of 
its  form  gives  us  a  working  knowledge  of  the  writ- 
ing of  other  news  stories.  The  fire  story  is  prob- 
ably the  commonest  news  story,  and  it  is  by  far  the 
easiest  story  to  handle,  for  its  form  has  become 
somewhat  standardized.  We  know  just  exactly  what 
our  readers  want  to  know  about  each  fire,  and  within 
certain  limits  all  fires,  as  well  as  the  reports  of  them, 
are  very  much  alike.  There  is  seldom  more  than 
one  fact  or  incident  that  makes  one  fire  different 
from  another  and  that  fact  we  always  seize  as  the 
feature  of  our  report.  However,  the  fire  story  has 
been  taken  only  as  typical  of  other  news  stories. 
Now  we  are  ready  to  study  the  others,  using  the  fire 
story  as  our  model  in  writing  the  others. 

There  is  a  vast  number  of  other  stories  that  we 
must  be  able  to  write,  and  they  lack  the  convenient 
uniformity  that  fires  have.  Not  only  does  every 

105 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

story  have  a  different  feature,  but  it  is  concerned 
with  a  different  kind  of  happening.  One  assignment 
may  call  for  the  report  of  an  explosion,  another  the 
report  of  a  business  transaction,  and  another  a  mur- 
der. In  each  one  we  have  to  get  the  facts  and  choose 
the  most  striking  fact  as  our  feature.  Never  can 
we  resort  to  the  simple  beginning  "Fire  destroyed," 
but  we  must  find  a  different  beginning  for  each  as- 
signment. 

Just  as  in  the  fire  story,  the  lead  of  any  news 
story  is  the  most  important  part.  It  must  begin  with 
the  most  striking  part  of  the  event  and  answer  the 
reader's  Where?  When?  How?  Why?  and  Who? 
concerning  it.  All  the  rules  that  apply  to  the  fire 
lead  apply  to  the  lead  of  any  story. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  classify  all  the  news 
stories  that  a  newspaper  must  print.  The  very  zest 
of  reporting  comes  from  the  changing  variety  of  the 
work;  no  two  assignments  are  ever  exactly  alike — 
if  they  were  only  one  would  be  worth  printing. 
Newspapers  themselves  make  no  attempt  to  classify 
the  ordinary  run  of  news  or  to  work  out  a  syste- 
matic division  of  labor;  a  reporter  may  be  called 
upon  to  cover  a  fire,  a  political  meeting,  a  murder,  a 
business  story,  all  in  the  same  day.  Each  one  is 
simply  a  story  and  must  be  covered  in  the  same  way 
that  all  the  rest  are  covered — by  many  interviews  for 

106 


OTHER   NEWS    STORIES 

facts.  For  our  study  it  may  be  well  to  divide  news 
stories  into  a  few  large  groups.  The  groups  over- 
lap and  are  not  entirely  distinct,  but  the  stories  in 
each  group  have  some  one  thing  in  common  that 
may  aid  us  in  learning  how  to  write  them.  At  most, 
the  list  is  only  a  very  incomplete  summary  of  the 
more  important  kinds  of  news  stories  and  is  intended 
to  be  merely  a  suggestive  way  of  supplying  the  stu- 
dent with  necessary  practice. 

1.  Accidents. — Accident  stories  may  be  anything 
from  a  sprained  ankle  to  a  disastrous  railroad  wreck, 
but  they  all  depend  upon  one  element  for  their  in- 
terest. They  are  all  printed  because  people  in  gen- 
eral are  interested  in  the  injuries  and  deaths  of  other 
people — physical  calamity  is  the  common  ground  in 
all  these  stories. 

The  number  of  possible  accidents  is  infinite,  but 
there  are  some  common  types  that  recur  most  often. 
Among  these  are :  railroad,  trolley,  railroad  crossing 
accidents ;  runaways ;  electrocutions ;  explosions ;  col- 
lapse of  buildings;  marine  disasters;  cave-in  acci- 
dents ;  elevator,  automobile,  aviation  accidents. 

The  feature  of  any  accident  story  is  always,  of 
course,  the  thing  that  made  the  story  worth  printing, 
and  that  is  usually  the  human  life  element.  The 
feature  of  an  accident  story  is  almost  always  the 
number  of  dead  and  injured.  Most  reports  of  rail- 

107 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

road  wrecks  begin  with  "Ten  persons  were  killed  and 
seventeen  were  injured  in  a  wreck,  etc."  The  same 
is  true  of  any  accident  story ;  if  more  than  one  per- 
son is  killed  it  is  usually  safe  to  begin  with  the  num- 
ber of  fatalities.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  noted 
that  the  death  of  railroad  employees  seldom  makes 
a  story  worth  printing;  they  may  be  included  in  the 
total  number,  but  if  no  passengers  are  killed,  fatali- 
ties among  trainmen  seldom  give  a  story  any  news 
value. 

Accident  stories  of  course  have  many  other  pos- 
sible features;  newspapers  report  many  accidents  in 
which  no  one  is  killed.  In  that  case  some  other  ele- 
ment gives  the  story  news  value  and  that  element 
must  be  played  up  as  the  feature.  Perhaps  it  is  the 
manner  in  which  the  accident  happened  or  the  man- 
ner in  which  a  person  was  killed  or  injured,  as  in 
an  automobile  accident.  The  cause  of  the  accident 
may  be  the  most  interesting  part  of  the  story :  train- 
wreckers  or  a  broken  rail  in  a  railroad  wreck,  or  the 
cause  of  an  explosion.  Very  often  an  accident  is  re- 
ported simply  because  some  well-known  person  was 
connected  with  it  in  some  way;  the  name  then  be- 
comes the  feature  and  comes  into  the  first  line.  A 
story  may  be  worth  printing  simply  because  of  the 
unusual  manner  of  rescue;  such  a  feature  is  often 
played  up  in  stories  of  marine  accidents,  cave-ins, 

jo8 


OTHER   NEWS    STORIES 


etc.  Not  infrequently  some  of  the  unusual  attendant 
circumstances  give  a  story  news  value :  e.g.,  a  police- 
man dragged  from  his  horse  and  run  over  by  an 
automobile  while  he  is  trying  to  stop  a  runaway. 

Here  are  some  accident  stories  from  the  news- 
papers : 

Fatalities : 

Six  men  were  killed  and  a  dozen  seri- 
ously injured  early  to-day  by  an  out- 
bound Panhandle  passenger  train  crash- 
ing into  the  rear  end  of  a  Chicago,  Mil- 
waukee and  St.  Paul  stock  train  at 
Twelfth  and  Rockwell  streets, — Chicago 
Record-Herald. 


Manner 


Cause 


Run  down  by  her  own  automobile, 
which  she  was  cranking,  at  First  and 
G  streets,  northwest,  Dr.  Alma  C.  Ar- 
nold, a  chiropractic  physician,  825  Fif- 
teenth street,  northwest,  was  forced 
against  the  wheel  of  a  passing  wagon 
and  seriously  injured  this  morning. — 
Washington  Times. 


Over-balanced  by  a  granite  stone 
weighing  four  tons,  the  entire  cornice 
over  the  west  portico  of  the  new  west 
wing  of  the  capitol  fell  to  the  ground 
this  afternoon,  carrying  with  it  Daniel 
Logan,  foreman  for  the  Woodbury 
Granite  Company. — Madison  Democrat. 
Attendant  Circumstances : 

With  a  blast  that  shook  the  entire  city 
and  was  believed  by  many  to  be  an 
earthquake,  three  boilers  in  the  new 

109 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

engine  house  of  the  Pabst  brewery  on 
Tenth  street,  between  Chestnut  street 
and  Cold  Spring  avenue,  exploded  at 
about  4  o'clock  this  morning. — Milwau- 
kee Free  Press. 


2.  Robberies.— Another  large  class  of  news 
stories  is  concerned  with  robberies  of  various  kinds. 
Unfortunately  for  the  reporter,  very  few  robberies 
are  alike ;  beyond  the  common  ground  of  the  interest 
in  the  amount  stolen  and  the  cleverness  of  the  rob- 
ber's work,  there  is  seldom  any  one  thing  that  may 
be  looked  for  as  the  feature  of  a  robbery  story.  The 
reporter  must  decide  what  in  the  story  makes  it 
worth  printing. 

Robbery  stories  may  include  anything  from  petty 
thievery  to  bank  defaulting.  Some  of  the  possi- 
bilities are  horse  and  automobile  stealing,  burglary, 
hold-ups,  train  and  street-car  robbery,  embezzlement, 
fraud,  kidnapping,  safe-cracking,  shop  and  bank  rob- 
bery. It  is  well  for  the  reporter  who  has  to  cover 
a  story  of  this  class  to  acquaint  himself  with  the 
distinctions  that  characterize  the  various  kinds  of 
robbery  and  the  various  names  applied  to  the  people 
who  commit  this  sort  of  crime:  e.g.,  robber,  thief, 
bandit,  burglar,  hold-up  man,  thug,  embezzler,  de- 
faulter, safe-cracker,  pick-pocket. 

In  general  the  chief  interest  in  robbery  stories  is 
no 


OTHER   NEWS    STORIES 

in  the  result  of  the  work — the  amount  taken — usu- 
ally accompanied  by  a  term  to  designate  the  sort  of 
robbery.  Just  how  the  crime  was  committed  is  often 
the  feature,  as  in  a  train  robbery  or  a  clever  case  of 
fraud.  If  the  victim  or  victims  are  at  all  well  known 
their  names  may  become  the  most  interesting  thing 
in  the  story — or  even  the  name  of  a  well-known 
criminal  or  band  of  robbers.  In  some  stories,  espe- 
cially if  another  paper  has  already  covered  the  story, 
the  pursuit  or  capture  of  the  criminals  is  often  inter- 
esting; the  stories  of  bank  robberies  often  begin  in 
this  way.  Other  attendant  circumstances,  such  as 
the  number  of  persons  who  witnessed  the  crime,  may 
be  the  feature.  In  hold-ups,  burglaries,  and  crimes 
of  that  sort,  the  death  or  wounding  of  the  victim  is 
often  played  up.  Sometimes  the  reason  for  the 
crime,  as  in  a  kidnapping  case,  is  of  great  signifi- 
cance. In  the  case  of  a  robbery  of  a  bank  or  any 
other  institution  which  depends  upon  credit  for 
its  business,  the  story  usually  begins  with,  or 
at  least  mentions  near  the  beginning,  the  pres- 
ent condition  of  the  robbed  institution.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  in  no  case  is  the  name  of  the  criminal, 
the  manner  of  his  arrest  (if  it  is  not  unusual), 
the  police  station  to  which  he  was  taken,  or  the 
charge  preferred  against  him  worth  a  place  in  the 
lead. 

in 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 


Some  robbery  stories  from  the  daily  press 

Amount  taken : 

Furs  worth  $40,000  were  stolen  in  the 
early  hours  of  yesterday  morning  within 
a  stone's  throw  of  Madison  Square. 
Apparently  a  gang  in  which  there  was 
a  woman  expert  in  choosing  only  the 
best  furs  carried  off  the  costly  skins,  etc. 
— New  York  World. 

Manner  of  hold-up : 

Seized  by  thugs  in  broad  daylight  as 
he  was  crossing  the  railroad  tracks  at 
the  foot  of  First  avenue  east,  Fred 
Butzer,  a  stonemason  of  Butler,  Minn., 
was  thrown  to  the  ground,  a  gag  placed 
in  his  mouth,  his  pockets  were  rifled  of 
$36.—Duluth  News-Tribune. 

Unusual  sort  of  pickpocket : 

A  young  man  in  evening  dress,  who 
was  going  down  into  the  subway  station 
at  Times  Square  with  the  theater  crowd 
that  filled  the  entrance  just  outside  of 
the  Hotel  Knickerbocker  early  last 
night,  paused,  knocked  a  woman  under 
the  chin  and  took  away  her  silver  chate- 
laine purse  containing  $20  as  deftly  as 
he  might  have  flicked  the  ash  off  his 
cigarette.  Then  he  disappeared. — New 
York  Times. 

Unusual  thieves: 

Two  girl  thieves  not  more  than 
twelve  years  old  and  small  in  stature 
for  their  age  have  been  operating  with 
great  success  in  the  different  stores  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Amsterdam  ave- 
nue and  Seventy-ninth  street.  Five  or 
six  thefts,  etc. — New  York  Telegram. 

112 


OTHER   NEWS    STORIES 

Pursuit  and  capture : 

After  a  chase  along  Forty-second 
street  and  up  the  steps  of  the  Hotel 
Manhattan,  a  woman,  who  said  she  was 
Sadie  Brown,  thirty-three  years  old,  of 
No.  215  West  Forty-sixth  street,  was  ar- 
rested early  today  on  suspicion  of  hav- 
ing picked  the  pocket  of  a  man  at,  etc. 
— New  York  Telegram. 

Present  conditions  of  robbed  bank    (second  para- 
graph of  an  embezzlement  story)  : 

Banking  Commissioner  Watkins  this 
afternoon  declared  that  he  found  the 
bank  perfectly  sound,  that  all  commer- 
cial paper  was  found  intact,  that  none 
of  the  accounts  have  been  juggled  and 
that  no  erasures  of  any  kind  were  dis- 
covered.— Philadelphia  Inquirer. 

Unusual  sort  of  burglar : 

Wearing  a  Salvation  Army  uniform, 
a  burglar  was  caught  early  yesterday  in 
the  home  of  Walter  Katte,  a  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  New  York  Central  railroad, 
at  Irvington  -  on  -  the  -  Hudson. — New 
York  World. 

3.  Murder. — The  reports  of  crimes  of  this  sort  can 
hardly  be  classified,  for  there  are  so  many  things 
that  may  be  worth  featuring  in  any  murder  case. 
The  story  itself  is  usually  of  such  importance  that 
the  mere  fact  that  a  murder  has  been  committed 
gives  it  news  value  even  if  there  is  nothing  unusual 
in  the  crime — just  as  in  the  case  of  a  featureless  fire 
story  that  begins  with  "Fire."  The  handling  of  a 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 


crime  depends  upon  the  character  and  circumstances; 
the  reporter  must  weigh  the  facts  in  each  case  for 
himself.  However,  we  usually  find  a  feature  in  the 
number  of  persons  murdered,  the  manner  in  which 
the  crime  was  committed,  the  name  of  the  victim,  if 
he  or  she  is  well  known,  the  reason  for  the  deed,  or 
in  some  of  the  many  attendant  circumstances,  such  as 
arrest,  pursuit,  etc.  One  rule  must  always  be  fol- 
lowed in  the  reporting  of  a  murder  story:  the  re- 
porter must  confine  himself  to  the  necessary  facts 
and  omit  as  many  of  the  gruesome  details  as  pos- 
sible. He  must  tell  it  in  a  cold,  hard-hearted  way 
without  elaboration,  for  the  story  in  itself  is  grue- 
some enough.  Just  as  soon  as  a  murder  story  begins 
to  expand  upon  shocking  details  it  becomes  the 
worst  sort  of  a  yellow  story. 

Examples  of  murder  stories  from  the  newspapers : 


Manner 


Motive 


After  crushing  in  the  head  of  his  su- 
perior officer  with  an  axe,  James  Lay- 
ton,  boatswain  of  the  Liverpool  sailing 
ship  Colony,  refused  to  submit  to  arrest, 
and,  still  waving  the  bloody  weapon, 
committed  suicide  by  jumping  into  the 
sea. — New  York  Mail. 

In  revenge  for  a  beating  he  received 
the  day  before,  Gaetona  Ambrifi  yester- 
day shot  and  instantly  killed  Frank  Ric- 
a  sub-section  foreman  on  the 

114 


OTHER   NEWS    STORIES 


Pennsylvania  Railroad,  while  they  were 
working  on  the  roadbed  near  Peddle 
street,  Newark. — New  York  Sun. 

Prominent  name : 

Mayor  William  J.  Gaynor  of  New 
York  City  was  shot  and  seriously,  per- 
haps fatally,  wounded  on  board  the 
steamer  Kaiser  Wilhelm  der  Grosse  at 
9 130  as  he  was  sailing  for  Europe. 

Resulting  pursuit : 

The  police  of  Brooklyn  have  another 
murder  mystery  to  unravel  through  the 
finding  early  today  of  the  body  of 
Peter  Barilla  on  Lincoln  road,  near 
Nostrand  avenue,  Flatbush.  There  were 
two  bullet  wounds  in  the  body  and  four 
stab  wounds  in  the  back. — Brooklyn 
Eagle. 

Attendant  circumstances : 

A  hundred  or  more  persons  who  were 
about  to  take  trains  witnessed  the  shoot- 
ing to  death  of  a  Jersey  City  business 
man  in  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  sta- 
tion there  this  afternoon. — New  York 
Mail. 


4.  Suicide. — What  is  true  of  murder  stories  is  also 
true  of  suicide.  Each  individual  case  has  an  unusual 
feature  of  its  own.  We  ordinarily  find  a  good  be- 
ginning in  the  manner  of  the  suicide,  the  name  of 
the  person  who  has  killed  himself  if  he  is  well  known, 
the  reason  for  the  act,  or  some  one  of  the  attendant 
circumstances — often  the  manner  of  resuscitation  if 
the  crime  is  unsuccessful.  For  some  unexplained 
9  115 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 


reason  many  papers  do  not  print  accounts  of  or- 
dinary suicides,  except  when  the  individual  is  prom- 
inent.    At  any  rate  the  story  must  be  told  without 
gruesome  details  and  as  briefly  as  possible. 
Examples  from  the  press: 

Name : 

William  L.  Murray  of  Rockview  ave- 
nue, North  Plainfield,  paying  teller  of 
the  Empire  Trust  Company  of  New 
York,  committed  suicide  at  Scotch 
Plains  early  this  afternoon  by  shooting 
himself  in  the  head.  No  reason  is  as- 
signed for  the  act. — New  York  Sun. 


Motive : 


Driven  insane  by  continued  brooding 
over  ill  health,  Miss  Ada  Emerson,  a 
former  teacher  in  the  Beloit  city  schools, 
killed  herself  in  a  crowded  interurban 
car  Saturday  afternoon  by  slashing  her 
throat  with  a  razor. — Beloit  Free  Press. 


Here  the  manner  is  the  feature,  but  it  is  not  played 
up  in  the  first  line  because  it  is  too  horrible. 

5.  Big  Stories. — The  big  stories  of  catastrophes 
are  usually  handled  on  a  large  scale — played  up,  as 
the  newspaper  men  say.  The  story  in  itself  is  of 
sufficient  importance  to  make  it  unnecessary  to  play 
up  any  single  feature  of  the  story.  However,  the 
reporter,  in  looking  for  a  good  beginning,  often 
finds  it  in  the  most  startling  fact  in  the  story.  If 
he  is  reporting  a  riot  he  usually  begins  with  the 

116 


OTHER   NEWS    STORIES 

number  of  killed  or  injured,  the  amount  of  property 
destroyed,  the  character  of  the  riot,  or  the  cause,  as 
in  this  example : 


In  an  effort  to  bring  about  the  re- 
instatement of  one  of  their  number  who 
had  been  discharged  for  non-unionism, 
a  hundred  or  more  journeymen  bakers 
wrecked  the  bakeshop  of  Pincus  Jacobs, 
at  No.  1571  Lexington  avenue,  early 
this  morning. — New  York  Evening  Post. 


In  the  case  of  a  storm  the  human  life  element  is 
of  greatest  importance,  then  the  damage  to  property, 
and  last,  the  peculiar  circumstances.  For  example : 

CLEVELAND,  Dec.  11.— Fifty-nine 
lives  were  the  cost  of  a  storm  which 
passed  over  Lake  Erie  Wednesday  night 
and  Thursday,  and  more  than  $1,000,000 
worth  of  vessel  property  was  destroyed. 
— New  York  Evening  Post. 

If  the  story  is  concerned  with  a  flood  the  human- 
life  element  is  first,  then  the  damage,  the  cause,  the 
freaks  of  the  flood,  or  the  present  situation.  For 
example : 

PARKERSBURG,  W.  Va.,  March  10. 
— Three  persons  are  known  to  have  per- 
ished in  a  flood  which  swept  down  upon 
the  city  on  Friday  when  two  water 

117 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

reservoirs  on  Prospect  Hill  burst  with- 
out warning.  Forty  houses  were  de- 
stroyed and  many  persons  are  missing. 
The  property  damage  will  be  nearly 
$500,000. 

6.  Police  Court  News. — The  ordinary  run  of  police 
court  news  is  in  a  class  by  itself.  Usually  the  only 
news  value  in  the  story  depends  upon  some  unusual 
incident  or  circumstance  that  attracts  the  attention 
of  the  reporter.  This  is  of  course  the  source  of 
many  of  the  stories  of  crime,  mentioned  before,  but 
many  stories  turn  up  at  the  police  courts  which  are 
not  concerned  with  crime,  although  in  some  cases 
they  are  concerned  with  criminals.  In  this  field  of 
reporting  there  are  many  opportunities  for  the  hu- 
man-interest story  which  will  be  taken  up  in  a  later 
chapter.  When  the  incident  is  reported  in  an  or- 
dinary news  story  the  feature  is  usually  in  some  at- 
tendant circumstance  and  the  story  might  well  be 
classed  with  one  of  the  above  groups.  Here  are  two 
examples  from  the  daily  press : 


Because  he  did  not  have  sufficient 
money  to  buy  flowers  for  his  sweetheart, 
Henry  Trupke,  aged  21  years,  forged 
a  check  for  $22.50  on  a  grocer,  J.  Sie- 
berlich,  781  Third  street,  and  after  a 
week's  chase  was  caught  last  night  as 
he  got  off  a  Wisconsin  Central  train. — 
Milwaukee  Sentinel 
118 


OTHER   NEWS    STORIES 

But  a  few  hours  before  receiving  a 
sentence  of  two  years  in  the  house  of 
correction  for  stealing  furs  from  the 
store  of  Lohse  Bros.,  117  Wisconsin 
street,  John  Garner,  self-confessed  thief, 
was  married  to  Rose  Strean,  one  of  the 
witnesses  in  the  case,  which  was  tried 
yesterday  in  the  municipal  court. — Mil- 
waukee Free  Press. 


7.  Reports  of  Meetings,  Conferences,  Decisions,  etc. 
— This  group  includes  all  reports  of  meetings,  or 
conferences,  of  bodies  of  any  sort,  political  or  other- 
wise, reports  of  judicial  or  legislative  hearings  or 
decisions,  or  announcements  of  resolutions  passed. 
Such  as : 


WASHINGTON,  Jan.  15.— Acquisi- 
tion of  the  telegraph  lines  by  the  gov- 
ernment and  their  operation  as  a  part 
of  the  postal  system  is  the  latest  idea 
of  Postmaster  General  Hitchcock.  An- 
nouncement was  made  today  that  a  reso- 
lution to  this  effect  will  be  offered  to 
Congress  at  the  present  session. — Wis- 
consin State  Journal. 


There  is  always  one  thing  in  these  stories  that 
gives  them  news  value — the  purpose  or  result  of  the 
conference,  hearing,  or  announcement.  This  pur- 
pose or  result,  of  course,  must  be  played  up.  The 
one  point  that  the  reporter  should  remember  is  that 

119 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

a  well-written  lead  begins  with  the  result  or  purpose 
of  the  meeting  or  announcement  rather  than  with 
the  name  of  the  meeting  or  the  name  of  the  body 
that  makes  the  announcement.  Never  begin  a  story 
thus :  "At  a  meeting  of  the  Press  Club  held  in  the 

Auditorium   last   night   it   was   resolved  that " 

Transpose  the  sentence  and  begin  with  a  statement 
of  what  was  resolved.  In  the  following  story  the 
order  is  wrong: 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  through  the  opinion  delivered  by 
Justice  Vandevanter,  today  declared  con- 
stitutional the  employers'  liability  law 
of  1908. 

The  import  of  the  decision  is  buried;  it  should 
be  written  thus : 


The  employers'  liability  law  of  1908 
was  today  declared  constitutional  by  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
Justice  Vandevanter  delivered  the  opin- 
ion of  the  court,  made  in  four  cases. 


In  these  stories,  as  in  all  other  news  stories,  the  lead 
must  begin  with  the  fact  or  statement  that  gives  the 
story  news  value.  Burying  this  fact  or  statement 
behind  two  or  three  lines  of  explanation  spoils  the 
effectiveness  of  the  lead.  A  student  of  journalism 

120 


OTHER   NEWS    STORIES 

may  gain  very  good  practice  in  the  writing  of 
stories  by  looking  over  the  leads  that  appear  in 
the  daily  papers  and  transposing  those  leads  which 
bury  their  news  behind  explanations.  The  first 
line  of  type  in  a  lead  is  like  a  shop's  show  window 
and  it  must  not  be  used  for  the  display  of  packing 
cases. 

8.  Stories  on  Other  Printed  Matter. — A  large  part 
of  a  newspaper's  space,  especially  in  smaller  cities,  is 
devoted  to  stories  based  on  printed  bulletins,  an- 
nouncements, city  directories,  legislative  bills,  and 
published  reports  of  various  kinds.  Sometimes  a 
news  story  is  written  upon  a  pamphlet  that  was 
issued  for  advertising  purposes — because  there  is 
some  news  in  it.  In  all  of  these  stories  the  reporter 
must  look  through  the  pamphlet  to  find  something  of 
news  value  or  something  that  has  a  significant  rela- 
tion to  other  news.  Smaller  papers  often  print 
stories  on  the  new  city  directory ;  the  increase  or  de- 
crease in  population  is  treated  as  news  and  a  very 
interesting  story  may  be  written  on  a  comparison 
of  the  names  in  the  directory.  In  university  towns 
the  appearance  of  a  new  university  catalog  or  bul- 
letin of  any  sort  is  the  occasion  for  a  story  which 
points  out  the  new  features  or  compares  the  new  bul- 
letin with  a  previous  one.  Reporters  and  corre- 
spondents in  political  centers,  like  state  capitals,  get 

121 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

out  stories  on  committee  and  legislative  reports  and 
on  new  bills  that  are  proposed  or  passed  by  the  legis- 
lature. The  writing  of  these  stories  is  very  much 
like  the  reporting  of  a  speech,  which  will  be  dis- 
cussed later.  The  newest  or  most  interesting  feature 
in  the  report  or  bill  is  played  up  in  the  lead  as  the 
feature  of  the  story,  followed  by  the  source  of  the 
story,  the  printed  bulletin  upon  which  the  story  is 
based ;  thus : 


A  new  plan  for  placing  the  control  of 
all  water  power  in  the  state  in  the  hands 
of  the  legislature  was  proposed  in  the 
minority  report  of  Senators  J.  B.  Smith 
and  L.  C.  Blake,  of  the  special  legisla- 
tive committee  on  drainage,  issued  to- 
day. 


These  eight  classes  of  news  stories  do  not  include 
all  the  news  stories  that  a  newspaper  prints,  but  they 
are  in  a  way  typical  of  all  the  others  that  are  not 
mentioned.  It  will  be  noted  from  these  that  all 
news  stories,  just  like  the  fire  story,  are  usually  writ- 
ten in  about  the  same  way.  Each  one  has  a  lead 
which  begins  with  the  feature  of  the  story — i.e.,  the 
fact  or  incident  in  the  story  which  gives  it  news 
value  and  makes  it  of  interest — and  concludes  by 
answering  the  reader's  questions,  when,  where,  who, 
how,  why,  concerning  the  feature.  Each  story  be- 


OTHER   NEWS    STORIES 

gins  again  after  the  lead,  and  in  one  or  more  para- 
graphs explains,  describes,  or  narrates  the  incident 
in  detail  and  in  logical  order.  This  body  of  the 
story  which  follows  the  lead,  while  following  in 
general  the  logical  order,  is  so  written  that  its  most 
interesting  facts  are  near  the  beginning  and  its  in- 
terest dwindles  away  toward  the  end.  This  is  to 
enable  the  editor  in  making  up  his  paper,  to  take 
away  from  the  end  of  any  story,  as  we  have  seen 
before,  a  paragraph  or  more  without  spoiling  the 
story's  continuity  or  depriving  it  of  any  of  its  essen- 
tial facts.  The  form  of  the  conventional  fire  story 
may  be  used  as  a  model  in  the  writing  of  any  news 
story. 

In  writing  the  body  of  a  story  to  explain,  describe, 
or  narrate  the  incident  mentioned  in  the  lead,  every 
effort  should  be  directed  toward  clearness.  This  is 
particularly  true  of  stories  which  are  in  the  main 
narrations  of  action.  The  number  of  facts  that  may 
be  included  must  depend  upon  the  length  of  the 
story ;  if  all  of  the  facts  cannot  be  included  without 
overburdening  the  story,  cut  out  some  of  the  details 
of  lesser  importance,  but  treat  those  that  are  in- 
cluded in  a  clear  readable  way.  Short  sentences  are 
always  much  better  in  newspaper  writing  than  long 
involved  sentences.  Pronouns  should  always  be 
used  in  such  a  way  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  in 

123 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

regard  to  their  antecedents.  If  a  relative  clause  or 
participial  expression  sounds  awkward  make  a  sepa- 
rate sentence  of  it.  In  other  words,  be  simple,  con- 
cise, and  clear — that  is  better  in  a  newspaper  than 
much  fine  writing. 


IX 

FOLLOW-UP   AND    REWRITE    STORIES 

The  terms  "rewrite  story"  and  "follow-up,  or  fol- 
low, story,"  are  names  which  newspaper  men  apply 
to  the  rehashed  or  revised  versions  of  other  news 
stories.  A  large  newspaper  office  employs  one  or 
more  rewrite  men  who  spend  their  entire  time  re- 
writing stones.  To  be  sure,  a  part  of  their  work 
consists  of  rewriting,  or  simply  recasting,  poorly 
written  copy  prepared  by  the  reporters.  But  the 
major  part  of  their  work,  the  part  that  interests  us, 
involves  something  more  than  that.  It  involves  the 
rejuvenation  of  stories  that  have  been  printed  in  a 
previous  edition  or  in  another  paper,  with  the  pur- 
pose of  bringing  the  news  up  to  the  present  moment. 

News  ages  very  rapidly.  What  may  be  news  for 
one  edition  is  no  longer  news  when  another  edition 
goes  to  press  an  hour  later.  A  feature  that  may  be 
worth  playing  up  in  a  morning  paper  would  not  have 
the  same  news  value  in  an  evening  paper  of  the 
same  day.  The  news  grows  stale  so  quickly  because 
new  things  are  continually  happening  and  new  de- 

125 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

velopments  are  continually  changing  the  aspect  of 
previous  stories.  If  a  story  has  been  run  through 
two  or  three  editions  and  new  developments  have 
changed  it,  the  story  is  turned  over  to  a  rewrite  man 
for  consequent  alteration.  A  story  in  a  morning 
paper  is  no  longer  news  for  an  evening  paper  of  the 
same  date,  but  a  clever  rewrite  man,  with  or  without 
new  developments  added  to  the  story,  can  recast  it 
so  that  it  will  appear  to  contain  more  recent  news 
than  the  original  story.  The  story  of  an  arrest  in 
a  morning  paper  begins  with  the  particulars  of  the 
arrest;  but  when  the  evening  paper's  rewrite  man 
has  rearranged  it  for  his  paper  it  has  become  the 
story  of  the  trial  or  the  police  court  hearing  which 
followed  the  arrest.  Perhaps  the  evening  paper 
sends  a  man  to  get  the  later  developments  in  the 
case,  but  every  rewrite  man  knows  the  steps  that 
always  follow  an  arrest  and  he  can  rewrite  the  or- 
iginal story  without  additional  information.  His 
account  of  the  later  developments  is  called  either  a 
rewrite  or  a  follow-up  story,  depending  upon  the 
method  employed.  The  same  fundamental  idea  of 
rejuvenating  the  former  story  governs  the  prepara- 
tion of  both  the  rewrite  and  the  follow-up  story,  but 
while  the  rewrite  story  contains  no  additional  news, 
the  follow-up  presents  later  facts  in  addition  to  the 
old  news. 

126 


FOLLOW-UP   AND    REWRITE    STORIES 

1.  The  Rewrite  Story. — The  rewrite  story  is  pri- 
marily a  rehashing  of  a  previous  news  story  without 
additional  facts.  It  attempts  to  give  a  new  twist  to 
old  facts  in  order  to  bring  them  nearer  to  the  present 
time.  Without  the  aid  of  later  facts  the  rewrite  man 
can  only  select  a  new  feature  and  revise  the  old  facts. 
For  example,  suppose  that  a  $100,000  grain  elevator 
burns  during  the  night.  The  fire  would  make  a  big 
story  in  a  city  of  moderate  size  and  the  papers  next 
morning  would  treat  it  at  length.  If  no  one  were 
killed  or  injured  the  story  would  probably  begin 
with  a  simple  announcement  of  the  fire  in  a  lead  of 
this  kind : 


Fire  destroyed  the  grain  elevator  of 
the  H.  P.  Jones  Produce  Company, 
First  and  Water  streets,  and  $50,000 
worth  of  wheat  at  2  o'clock  this  morn- 
ing. The  total  loss  is  estimated  at 
$150,000. 


Then  the  reporter  would  describe  the  fire  at  length, 
including  all  obtainable  facts.  By  afternoon  almost 
every  one  in  the  city  has  read  the  story — and  yet  the 
afternoon  papers  must  print  something  about  the  big 
fire.  If  no  new  facts  can  be  obtained  the  previous 
story  must  be  rehashed  and  presented  with  a  new 
feature  that  will  make  it  appear  to  be  a  later  story. 
It  is  useless  to  begin  the  evening  story  with  a  mere 

127 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

announcement  of  the  fire,  for  that  is  no  longer  news, 
and  the  rewrite  man  must  find  a  new  beginning  to 
attract  the  attention  of  his  readers.  Perhaps  in 
looking  over  the  morning  story,  he  finds  that  the 
fire  was  the  result  of  spontaneous  combustion  in  the 
grain  stored  in  the  elevator.  In  the  morning  story 
this  fact  was  rather  insignificant  in  the  face  of  the 
huge  loss,  and  most  readers  passed  over  it  hastily. 
The  rewrite  man,  however,  who  has  no  later  facts  at 
his  command,  may  seize  it  as  a  new  feature.  Instead 
of  beginning  his  story  with  the  fact  of  the  fire,  which 
is  already  known,  he  begins  with  the  cause,  which 
appears  to  be  later  news.  His  lead  may  be  as  fol- 
lows: 


Spontaneous  combustion  in  the  wheat 
bins  of  the  H.  P.  Jones  Produce  Com- 
pany's elevator,  First  and  Water  streets, 
started  the  fire  which  destroyed  the 
entire  structure  with  a  loss  of  $150,000 
this  morning. 


Or  if  the  rewrite  man  is  not  so  fortunate  as  to  dis- 
cover a  new  feature  as  good  as  this,  he  may  have  to 
resort  to  beginning  with  a  picture  of  the  present  re- 
sults of  the  fire — thus: 


Smouldering  ruins  and  a  tangled  mass 
of  steel  beams  are  all  that  remain  of 
the  H.  P.  Jones  Produce  Company's 

128 


FOLLOW-UP   AND    REWRITE    STORIES 

$100,000  grain  elevator,  First  and  Water 
streets,  which  was  destroyed  by  fire 
this  morning. 

It  will  be  noticed  that,  while  these  new  rewrite 
leads  begin  with  a  new  feature,  each  new  lead  con- 
tains all  the  facts  presented  in  the  previous  lead  and 
is  told  with  an  eye  to  the  man  who  has  not  read  the 
earlier  account.  After  the  lead  the  rewrite  man 
retells  the  whole  story  for  the  benefit  of  readers  who 
did  not  see  the  morning  papers  and  rearranges  the 
facts  so  that  they  appear  new  to  those  who  read  the 
previous  stories.  Facts  which  the  other  papers  bur- 
ied he  unearths  and  displays;  details  which  appear 
to  be  later  developments  he  crowds  to  the  beginning. 
The  whole  story  is  sorted  and  rewritten  in  a  new 
order  and  with  a  new  emphasis.  The  result  is  a 
rewrite  story  which  appears  to  be  later,  although  it 
contains  no  new  facts  at  all.  It  is  seldom,  of  course, 
that  such  a  rewrite  story  is  used  for  local  news,  for 
very  rarely  is  it  impossible  for  a  later  paper  to  dis- 
cover new  facts.  But  in  the  case  of  news  from  the 
outside  world,  from  other  cities,  the  simple  method 
of  rehashing  old  facts  must  often  be  resorted  to.  If 
the  story  is  based  upon  a  single  dispatch  announcing 
an  earthquake  in  Hawaii  or  a  shipwreck  in  mid- 
ocean,  many  rewrite  stories  must  be  printed  on  the 
same  facts  before  another  message  brings  later  news 

129 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

and  additional  details.  An  example  of  this  is  the 
treatment  of  the  first  few  stories  of  the  wreck  of 
the  White  Star  liner  Titanic.  The  story  was  a  big 
one,  but  the  first  dispatches  were  very  meager  and 
many  rehashings  of  these  few  facts  had  to  be  printed 
before  later  and  more  definite  news  could  be  ob- 
tained. 

The  simple  rewriting  of  an  old  story  ordinarily 
involves  a  condensation  of  the  facts.  If  a  morning 
paper  printed  two  thousand  words  on  the  grain 
elevator  fire  above,  an  afternoon  paper  of  the  same 
day  would  hardly  treat  the  story  at  such  length. 
For  the  story  is  no  longer  big  news.  If  a  story  has 
run  through  the  first  editions  of  a  morning  paper  it 
would  be  cut  down,  as  well  as  rehashed,  in  the  later 
editions  of  the  same  paper.  The  story  of  the  fire 
loses  its  initial  burst  of  interest  after  the  first  print- 
ing, and  only  the  essential  facts  and  the  facts 
that  can  be  rejuvenated  can  be  reprinted. 
The  2,ooo-word  version  in  the  morning  paper  may 
be  worth  only  five  hundred  words  or  less  four  hours 
later. 

2.  The  Follow-up  Story. — If  new  facts  are  added  to 
a  story  between  editions  the  new  version  is  no  longer 
a  simple  rewrite  story.  It  becomes  a  follow-up 
story,  for  it  follows  up  the  subsequent  developments 
in  the  previous  story  and  corresponds  to  the  second 

130 


FOLLOW-UP   AND    REWRITE    STORIES 

or  succeeding  installments  of  a  serial  novel  in  which 
each  installment  begins  with  a  synopsis  of  previous 
chapters.  For  example,  if,  in  the  grain  elevator  fire 
story,  the  body  of  a  watchman  were  found  in  the 
ruins  after  the  morning  papers  have  gone  to  press, 
the  story  would  immediately  have  a  different  news 
value  for  the  evening  papers.  The  story  of  the  big 
fire  is  old,  but  the  discovery  of  the  body  is  new. 
Hence  the  rewrite  man  would  begin  with  the  later 
development — perhaps  thus : 


The  body  of  a  watchman  was  found 
this  afternoon  in  the  ruins  of  the  H.  P. 
Jones  Produce  elevator,  which  burned 
to  the  ground  this  morning  with  a  loss 
of  $150,000. 


The  new  story,  while  retelling  the  principal  facts  in 
the  previous  account,  would  give  prominence  to  the 
latest  news,  the  discovery  of  the  body.  As  an  ex- 
ample from  a  newspaper,  let  us  take  the  follow-up 
of  a  murder  mystery.  The  first  stories  on  this  mur- 
der simply  said  that  a  grocer  had  been  found  dead 
in  the  cellar  of  his  store  and  murder  had  been  sug- 
gested. The  follow-up  on  the  next  day  (printed 
here)  deals  with  a  new  development — has  a  new 
feature — and  carries  the  story  one  step  further  in 
the  attempt  to  unravel  the  mystery : 
10  131 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

Developments  yesterday  in  the  story 
of  the  killing  of  James  White,  the  Park 
street  grocer,  tended  to  support  the  con- 
tention of  Coroner  Donalds  and  the  po- 
lice that  White  was  not  murdered,  but 
died  by  his  own  hand. 

3.  Analysis. — So  far  we  have  treated  the  rewrite 
story  and  the  follow-up  story  separately,  but 
for  the  purposes  of  analysis  and  study  they  may 
be  treated  together,  because  the  same  fundamental 
idea  governs  both.  Dissection  of  the  follow-up 
story  will  also  show  us  what  the  rewrite  story  is 
made  of. 

From  the  above  clippings  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
lead  of  the  follow-up  story  is  very  much  like  that 
of  any  news  story.  The  lead  has  its  feature  in  the 
first  line  and  answers  the  reader's  questions  concern- 
ing that  feature.  It  is  simply  a  new  story  written  on 
an  old  subject  which  has  been  given  a  new  feature 
to  make  it  appear  new.  Furthermore,  it  will  be  no- 
ticed that  the  lead  of  the  follow-up  story  is  com- 
plete in  itself,  without  the  original  story  that  pre- 
ceded it.  Although  the  whole  idea  of  the  follow 
story  is  based  on  the  supposition  that  all  readers 
have  read  every  edition  of  the  paper  and  are  there- 
fore acquainted  with  the  original  story,  yet  for  the 
benefit  of  those  readers  who  have  not  read  the  pre- 
vious story,  the  follow-up  must  be  complete  and 

132 


FOLLOW-UP   AND    REWRITE    STORIES 


clear  in  itself.  New  facts  are  introduced  into  the 
follow  story,  but  its  lead  tells  the  main  facts  of  the 
original  story  so  that  no  reader  will  be  at  loss  to 
understand  what  it  is  all  about — in  other  words,  it 
gives  a  synopsis  of  previous  chapters.  In  many  fol- 
low-up stories  the  new  developments  are  supple- 
mented by  an  entire  retelling  of  the  original  story. 
This  is  especially  true  when  one  paper  is  rewriting  a 
story  which  broke  too  late  for  its  preceding  edition 
and  was  covered  by  a  rival  paper.  At  any  rate, 
every  follow-up  story,  like  every  other  news  story, 
must  be  so  constructed  as  to  stand  by  itself  without 
previous  explanation. 


Of  the  142  bodies  of  victims  of  the 
Triangle  Waist  Company's  fire  on  Sat- 
urday, that  had  been  taken  to  the 
morgue  up  to  noon  yesterday  when  it 
was  decided  that  all  the  dead  had  been 
recovered,  all  but  45  had  been  identi- 
fied today. 


This  is  a  follow-up  of  a  story  two  days  before. 
Every  reader  of  the  paper  probably  knew  everything 
that  had  been  printed  previously  about  the  fire,  and 
yet  this  lead  very  carefully  recalls  the  fire  to  the 
reader's  mind.  Later  in  the  story  the  principal  facts 
of  the  original  story  are  retold  as  if  they  were  new 
and  unknown. 

133 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

It  is  interesting  to  see  what  in  any  given  news- 
paper story  can  be  followed  up  for  a  later  story. 
The  would-be  reporter  may  get  good  practice  in 
writing  follow-up  stories  from  the  mere  attempt  to 
study  out  the  next  step  in  any  given  new  story. 
With  this  next  step  as  his  feature  he  may  try  to 
write  a  follow-up  story  without  additional  informa- 
tion, and  then  compare  it  with  other  follow-up 
stories.  For  every  news  story  contains  within  it 
clues  to  what  may  be  expected  to  follow. 

When  any  serious  fire  occurs  certain  additional 
facts  may  always  be  expected  to  follow.  The  find- 
ing of  more  dead,  the  unravelling  of  a  mysterious 
origin,  the  re-statement  of  the  loss,  and  the  present 
condition  of  the  injured  are  some  of  the  possibili- 
ties that  a  rewrite  man  considers  when  he  tries  to 
prepare  a  follow-up  story  on  a  fire.  The  Washing- 
ton Place  fire  in  New  York  on  March  25,  1911,  fur- 
nished admirable  material  for  the  study  of  the  re- 
writing of  fire  stories.  The  fire  occurred  on  Satur- 
day afternoon  too  late  for  anything  but  the  Sunday 
editions.  The  original  story  as  it  appeared  in  the 
Sunday  papers  and  the  Monday  issues,  of  papers 
which  had  no  Sunday  editions,  began  like  this : 


One  hundred  and  forty-one  persons 
are  dead  as  a  result  of  a  fire  which  on 
Saturday  afternoon  swept  the  three  up- 

134 


FOLLOW-UP    AND    REWRITE    STORIES 

per  floors  of  the  factory  loft  building 
at  the  northwest  corner  of  Washington 
place  and  Greene  street.  More  than 
three-quarters  of  this  number  are  wo- 
men and  girls,  who  were  employed  in 
the  Triangle  Shirt  Waist  factory,  where 
the  fire  originated. — Boston  Transcript, 
Monday. 

The  Monday  stories  on  the  fire  followed  up  vari- 
ous phases  as  shown  in  the  following.  Each  one 
while  indicating  that  the  story  was  a  follow-up  re- 
told the  principal  incidents  in  the  fire. 


The  death  list  in  the  Washington 
place  and  Greene  street  fire  was  swelled 
today  to  145,  a  majority  of  the  victims 
being  young  girls. — Monday  morning — 
second  story. 

At  dawn  today  it  was  estimated  that 
25,000  persons  had  visited  the  temporary 
morgue  on  the  covered  pier  at  the  foot 
of  East  Twenty-sixth  street,  set  aside 
to  receive  the  bodies  of  those  who  per- 
ished in  the  Washington  place  fire  on 
Saturday  afternoon. — Monday  morning 
— second  story. 

The  horror  of  the  fire  in  the  ten- 
story  loft  building  at  Washington  place 
and  Greene  street  late  Saturday  after- 
noon, with  its  heavy  toll  of  human  lives, 
grows  blacker  each  succeeding  hour. — 
Monday  afternoon. 

135 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 


Of  the  142  bodies  in  the  morgue  as  a 
result  of  the  Triangle  Shirt  Waist  fac- 
tory fire,  all  but  fifty  had  been  identi- 
fied this  morning. — Monday  afternoon. 

On  Tuesday  other  lines  opened  up  for  the  rewrite 
man: 

Sifting  down  the  great  mass  of  testi- 
mony at  their  disposal,  city  and  county 
officials  hoped  today  to  draw  closer  to 
the  source  of  responsibility  for  Satur- 
day's factory  fire  horror  in  which  142 
persons  lost  their  lives.  Investigations 
started  yesterday. — Tuesday  afternoon. 

With  all  but  twenty-eight  of  the  vic- 
tims of  the  Triangle  Shirt  Waist  factory 
horror  identified,  District  Attorney 
Whitman  continues  steadily  compiling 
evidence.  Funerals  for  scores  of  vic- 
tims are  being  held  today,  while  the  re- 
lief fund,  etc. — Tuesday  afternoon. 

Borough  President  McAneny  of  Man- 
hattan, the  district  attorney's  staff,  the 
fire  marshal,  the  coroner  and  the  state 
labor  department  are  bending  every  en- 
ergy toward  fixing  the  blame  for  the  loss 
of  the  142  lives  in  the,  etc. — Tuesday 
afternoon. 

Union  labor,  horrified  by  the  full 
realization  that  the  waste  of  human  life 
in  the  Triangle  Waist  factory  fire  might 
have  been  saved  had  existing  laws  been 
enforced,  today  arranged  for  a  monster 
demonstration  of  protest,  etc. — Tuesday 
afternoon. 

136 


FOLLOW-UP   AND    REWRITE    STORIES 

And  so  the  stories  ran  for  many  days  until  news- 
paper readers  had  lost  all  interest  in  the  fire.  Most 
of  the  stories  were  simply  retellings  of  the  original 
story  with  a  new  bit  of  information  in  the  lead. 
People  were  ravenous  for  more  details  about  the 
fire  and  the  follow  stories  supplied  them  until  they 
were  satisfied.  Rarely  is  a  fire  worth  so  many  re- 
tellings. 

A  serious  accident  is  often  followed  up  in  one  or 
more  editions.  If  many  people  are  killed  or  injured, 
the  revised  list  of  dead  or  the  present  condition  of 
the  injured  always  furnishes  material  for  a  follow- 
up.  Sometimes  the  fixing  of  the  blame,  as  in  a  rail- 
road accident,  or  other  resulting  features  are  used  as 
the  basis  of  the  rewriting. 

In  the  case  of  a  robbery  the  commonest  material 
for  a  follow-up  story  is  the  resulting  pursuit  or  cap- 
ture. Very  often  a  final  report  of  the  loss,  the  pres- 
ent condition  of  a  robbed  bank  or  public  institution, 
or  perhaps  the  regaining  of  the  booty,  makes  a  fea- 
ture for  a  new  story.  But  usually  the  follow-up  is 
concerned  with  the  pursuit,  capture,  or  trial.  This 
is  especially  true  if  the  original  story  has  been  told 
by  an  earlier  paper  and  another  later  paper  wishes 
to  print  a  more  up-to-date  story  on  the  robbery, 
such  as : 


137 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 


MINOCQUA,  Wis.,  Oct.  22.— It  now 
begins  to  look  as  if  the  bandits  who 
robbed  the  State  Bank  of  Minocqua 
early  Tuesday  morning  would  make 
their  escape  with  the  booty.  (This  is 
followed  by  a  re-telling  of  the  entire 
story  of  the  robbery  and  an  account  of 
the  pursuit.) 


The  most  usual  follow-up  of  a  murder  story  is 
interested  in  the  pursuit,  capture,  or  trial  of  the  per- 
petrator of  the  deed.  For  example : 


Following  the  discovery  of  the  body 
of  Pietro  Barilla,  an  Italian,  of  Wood- 
haven,  Long  Island,  who  was  stabbed 
to  death  by  four  men,  presumably  Black 
Hand  members,  in  Lincoln  Road,  near 
Flatbush,  early  yesterday  morning,  the 
police  arrested  three  men  yesterday. 


Very  often  the  present  condition  of  the  victim  of 
an  attempted  murder  calls  for  a  new  story.  The 
stories  following  the  attempted  murder  of  Mayor 
Gaynor  of  New  York  are  good  examples  of  the  lat- 
ter. If  a  mystery  surrounds  the  crime  a  possible 
solution  is  grounds  for  a  new  story.  The  stories 
which  might  follow  the  unraveling  of  the  mystery 
surrounding  the  fictitious  death  of  the  grocer,  men- 
tioned at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  would  be 
second-day  murder  stories.  The  original  story,  let 
us  say,  was  something  like  this: 

138 


FOLLOW-UP   AND    REWRITE    STORIES 

James  White,  a  groceryman,  was 
found  dying  yesterday  with  a  bullet 
wound  in  his  abdomen,  in  the  cellar  of 
his  grocery  store  at  1236  Park  street. 

The  next  story  on  the  murder  would  be  concerned 
with  the  unraveling  of  the  mystery,  thus : 

The  preliminary  inquiry  yesterday  by 
Coroner  John  F.  Donalds,  into  the  mys- 
terious death  of  James  White,  the  Park 
street  grocer,  resulted  in  the  conclusion 
that  White  was  murdered. 

And  so  the  stories  might  run  on  day  after  day  fol- 
lowing the  solution  of  the  case  like  the  succeeding 
chapters  of  a  continued  novel,  and  each  one  gives 
the  synopsis  of  the  preceding  chapters  in  its  lead,  as 
every  good  follow-up  story  should  do. 

Suicide  stories  seldom  offer  material  for  follow- 
up  stories  unless  there  is  some  mystery  surrounding 
the  case.  Sometimes  the  present  condition  of  a  re- 
suscitated victim  of  attempted  suicide  or  the  dispo- 
sition of  the  estate  of  a  suicide  offers  material  for 
rewriting. 

Serious  storms  and  floods  are  usually  followed  up 
for  several  days.  Readers  are  always  interested  in 
the  present  condition  of  the  devastated  region. 
Very  often  the  list  of  dead  and  injured  is  revised 
from  day  to  day,  and  any  attempt  to  lend  aid  to  the 

139 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

unfortunate  victims  is  always  a  reason  for  a  later 
story. 

Any  meetings,  conferences,  trials,  conventions,  or 
the  like  must  be  followed  up  day  by  day  with  suc- 
ceeding stories.  Each  story  is  complete  in  itself, 
but  each  one  adds  one  more  chapter  to  the  report  of 
the  meeting.  This  method  of  following  a  continued 
proceeding  calls  for  a  series  of  follow-up  stories; 
examples  of  the  stories  that  follow  a  continued  legal 
trial  will  be  given  later  under  Court  Reporting. 

Many  other  illustrations  might  be  given  of  fol- 
low-up stories  that  appear  daily  in  the  newspapers. 
In  the  last  analysis,  the  follow-up  or  the  rewrite 
story  is  nothing  more  than  an  ordinary  news  story, 
and  as  such  must  be  written  in  the  same  way.  It 
begins  with  a  lead  which  plays  up  a  feature  and 
answers  the  reader's  questions  about  the  subject; 
the  body  of  the  story  runs  along  like  the  body 
of  any  news  story.  But  it  is  different  in  being 
a  later  chapter  of  a  previous  account;  while  com- 
plete in  itself,  it  must  not  only  indicate  the  previous 
story,  but  must  tell  its  most  important  facts  for 
readers  who  may  have  misseJ  the  previous  story. 
It  is  simply  a  news  story  which  is  tied  to  a  previous 
story  by  a  string  of  cause  and  effect. 

4.  Following  Up  Belated  Subjects. — In  this  con- 
140 


FOLLOW-UP   AND    REWRITE    STORIES 

nection  it  may  be  well  to  mention  another  kind  of 
follow-up  story  that  is  usually  written  in  connection 
with  big  news  events.  It  is  written  to  develop  and 
follow  up  side  lines  of  interest  growing  out  of  the 
main  story.  In  its  most  usual  form  it  is  a  statisti- 
cal summary  of  events  similar  to  the  great  event  of 
the  day — such  as  similar  fires,  similar  railroad 
wrecks,  etc.,  in  the  past.  Any  big  story  attracts  so 
much  attention  among  newspaper  readers  that  the 
facts  at  hand  are  usually  not  sufficient  to  supply  the 
public's  demand  for  information  on  the  subject.  To 
satisfy  these  demands  editors  develop  lines  of  in- 
terest growing  out  of  the  main  event.  They  inter- 
view people  concerning  the  event  and  concerning 
similar  events;  they  describe  similar  events  that 
have  taken  place  in  the  past;  they  summarize  and 
compare  similar  events  in  the  past — in  short,  they 
follow  up  every  line  of  interest  opened  up  by  the  big 
story  and  write  stones  on  the  result.  These  stories 
are  of  the  nature  of  follow-up  stories  in  that  they 
grow  out  of,  and  develop,  the  main  story  in  its 
greatest  extent. 

For  example,  the  wreck  of  the  ocean  liner  Titanic 
called  for  innumerable  side  stories  because  the  pub- 
lic's interest  demanded  more  facts  than  the  news- 
papers had  at  hand  to  supply.  Hence,  the  papers 
wrote  up  similar  shipwrecks  in  the  past,  gathered 

141 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

together  summaries  of  the  world's  greatest  ship- 
wrecks, interviewed  people  who  had  been  in  any 
way  connected  with  shipwrecks  or  with  any  phase 
of  this  shipwreck,  described  glaciers  and  icebergs, 
estimated  the  depth  of  the  ocean  where  the  Titanic 
sank,  described  the  White  Star  liner  and  other  lin- 
ers, pictured  real  or  imaginary  shipwrecks,  and  de- 
veloped every  other  related  subject.  The  real  news 
in  all  this  mass  of  material  was  very  meager,  but  the 
related  stories  satisfied  the  greedy  public  and  helped 
newspaper  readers  to  understand  and  to  picture  the 
real  significance  of  the  meager  news. 

In  the  same  way  a  disastrous  fire,  like  the  burn- 
ing of  the  Iroquois  Theater,  calls  for  innumerable 
outgrowing  stories.  Even  when  the  event  reported 
in  the  main  news  story  is  not  sufficiently  important 
to  call  for  related  stories,  it  is  often  accompanied 
by  a  list  (usually  put  in  a  box  at  the  head  of  the 
story)  of  other  similar  events  and  their  results. 
These  follow-up  stories  of  related  subjects  are,  in 
form,  very  much  like  feature  stories,  although  they 
usually  conform  to  the  follow-up  idea  of  mentioning 
in  their  leads  the  main  news  event  to  which  they  are 
related. 


REPORTS    OF    SPEECHES 

Every  profession  has  its  disagreeable  tasks;  jour- 
nalism has  perhaps  more  disagreeable  tasks  than 
any  other  profession.  All  of  a  reporter's  work  is 
not  concerned  with  running  down  thrilling  stories 
and  writing  them  up  in  a  whirl  of  breathless  inter- 
est. Our  readers  demand  other  kinds  of  news,  and 
it  is  the  reporter's  task  to  satisfy  them  faithfully. 
There  is  probably  no  phase  of  the  work  that  is  quite 
so  irksome  as  the  reporting  of  speeches,  lectures, 
sermons,  etc.,  and  there  is  probably  no  phase  of  the 
work  about  which  most  reporters  have  fewer  defi- 
nite rules  or  ideas.  Read  the  reports  of  the  same 
speech  in  two  different  papers  and  note  the  differ- 
ence. They  seldom  contain  the  same  things  and 
more  seldom  do  they  tell  what  the  speaker  said,  in 
the  way  and  the  spirit  in  which  he  said  it.  It  is  irk- 
some work  and  difficult  work  to  condense  an  hour's 
talk  into  three  stickfuls,  and  few  reporters  know  ex- 
actly how  to  go  about  it. 

143 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

The  report  of  a  speech  or  a  sermon  or  a  lecture 
may  come  to  a  newspaper  office  in  one  of  two  ways. 
A  copy  of  it  may  be  sent  to  the  paper  or  the  reporter 
may  have  to  go  to  hear  the  address  and  take  notes 
on  it.  Very  often  the  speaker  kindly  sends  a 
printed  or  typewritten  copy  of  his  speech  to  the  edi- 
tor a  few  days  in  advance  with  the  permission  to 
release  it — or  print  it — on  a  certain  date,  after  the 
speech  has  been  delivered  in  public.  If  the  speech 
is  to  be  printed  in  full,  the  task  is  a  mere  matter  of 
editing  and  does  not  trouble  the  reporter.  Very 
few  speeches  receive  so  much  space.  The  others 
must  be  condensed  and  put  in  shape  for  printing. 

After  all,  the  usual  way  to  get  a  speech  is  to  go 
to  the  public  delivery  of  the  speech  and  bring  back  a 
report  of  it.  At  first  sight  this  is  a  difficult  task  and 
green  reporters  come  back  with  a  very  poor  resume. 
However,  a  word  or  two  of  advice  from  the  editor 
or  some  bitter  experience  eases  the  way.  Some  ad- 
vice may  be  given  here  to  prepare  the  would-be  re- 
porter beforehand. 

Some  reporters  who  know  shorthand  prefer  to 
make  a  stenographic  report  of  the  entire  speech  and 
rearrange  and  condense  it  in  the  office.  This  method 
is  advisable  only  in  the  case  of  speeches  of  the  great- 
est importance;  it  is  too  laborious  for  ordinary  pur- 
poses, since  the  account  includes  at  most  only  a  part 

144 


REPORTS    OF    SPEECHES 

of  the  speech.  The  best  way,  doubtless,  to  get  a 
speech  is  to  take  notes  on  it.  And  yet  this  must  be 
done  properly  or  there  is  a  danger  of  misinterpreta- 
tion of  statements  or  of  undue  emphasis  upon  any 
single  part  of  the  speech.  The  report  of  a  speech 
should  be  as  well  balanced  and  logical  as  the  speech 
itself,  differing  from  the  original  only  in  length  and 
the  omission  of  details.  The  speech  report  must  be 
accurate  and  truthful  or  the  speaker  may  appear  at 
the  office  in  a  day  or  two  with  blood  in  his  eye.  A 
few  rules  may  be  suggested  as  an  aid  to  accuracy 
and  truthfulness. 

In  the  first  place,  do  not  try  to  get  all  the  speech ; 
do  not  try  to  get  more  than  a  small  part  of  it — the 
important  part.  There  are  two  ways  of  doing  this. 
If  the  speech  is  well  arranged  and  orderly  it  is  easy 
to  tell  when  the  speaker  has  finished  one  sub-divis- 
ion and  is  beginning  another.  Each  division  and 
subdivision  will  naturally  contain  a  topic  sentence. 
Watch  for  the  topic  sentences  and  get  them  down 
with  the  briefest  necessary  explanation  to  make 
them  clear.  Political  speeches  or  impromptu  talks 
are,  on  the  other  hand,  not  always  so  logically  ar- 
ranged. Sometimes  it  is  possible  to  get  the  topic 
sentences,  but  more  often  it  is  not.  Then  watch  for 
the  interesting  or  striking  statements.  You  will  be 
aided  in  this  by  the  audience  about  you.  Whenever 

145 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

the  speaker  says  anything  unusually  striking  or  of 
more  than  ordinary  interest  the  audience  will  show 
it  by  signs  of  assent  or  dissent.  Watch  for  these 
signs,  even  for  applause — and  take  down  the  state- 
ment that  was  the  cause.  If  the  statement  inter- 
ested the  original  audience  it  will  interest  your  read- 
ers. Naturally,  mere  oratorical  trivialities  must  not 
be  mistaken  for  striking  statements. 

When  you  get  back  to  the  office  to  write  up  the 
report  of  the  speech  you  will  feel  the  need  of  direct 
quotations — in  fact,  the  length  of  your  report  will 
be  determined  by  the  number  of  direct  quotations 
that  you  have  to  use  in  it — as  well  as  by  editorial 
dictum.  It  would  be  entirely  wrong  to  quote  any 
expressions  of  your  own  because  they  are  somewhat 
like  the  speaker's  statements,  and  it  is  impossible  to 
quote  anything  less  than  a  complete  sentence  in  the 
report  of  a  speech.  Hence  you  will  need  complete 
sentences  taken  down  verbatim  in  the  exact  words 
of  the  speaker.  -Make  it  a  point  to  get  complete 
sentences  as  you  listen  to  the  speech.  Whenever  a 
striking  statement  or  an  interesting  part  of  the 
speech  seems  worth  putting  in  your  story  get  it 
down  completely.  You  will  find  yourself  writing 
most  of  the  time  because,  while  you  are  writing 
down  one  important  sentence,  the  speaker  will  be 
uttering  several  more  in  explanation  and  may  say 

146 


REPORTS    OF    SPEECHES 

something  else  of  interest  before  you  have  finished 
writing  down  his  first  statement.  Strict  attention, 
a  quick  pencil,  and  a  good  memory  are  needed  for 
this  kind  of  work,  but  the  reporting  of  speeches  will 
lose  its  terrors  after  you  have  had  a  very  small 
amount  of  practice. 

Just  as  any  news  story  begins  with  a  lead  and 
plays  up  its  most  striking  fact  in  the  first  line,  the 
report  of  a  speech  usually  begins  with  the  speaker's 
most  striking  or  most  important  statement.  As 
you  are  listening  to  his  words  watch  for  something 
striking  for  the  lead — something  that  will  catch  the 
reader's  eye  and  interest  him.  But  you  must  ex- 
ercise great  care  in  selecting  the  statement  for  the 
lead.  Theoretically  and  practically  it  must  be  some- 
thing in  strict  accordance  with  the  entire  content  of 
the  speech  and,  if  possible,  it  should  be  the  one  state- 
ment that  sums  up  the  whole  speech  in  the  most 
concise  way.  Somewhere  in  the  discourse,  at  the 
beginning,  at  the  end,  or  in  some  emphatic  place,  the 
speaker  will  usually  sum  up  his  complete  ideas  on  the 
subject  in  a  striking,  concise  way.  Watch  for  this 
summary  and  get  it  down  for  the  lead.  However, 
there  may  be  times  when  this  summary,  though 
concise,  will  be  of  little  interest  to  the  average  reader 
and  you  will  be  forced  to  use  some  other  striking 
statement.  Then  it  is  perfectly  permissible  to  take 
11  147 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

any  striking  statement  in  the  speech  and  use  it  for 
the  lead,  provided  that  the  statement  is  directly  con- 
nected with  the  rest  of  the  discourse.  But  be  fair 
to  the  speaker.  Do  not  play  up  some  chance  remark 
as  illustrative  of  the  entire  utterance ;  don't  bring  in 
an  aside  as  the  most  interesting  thing  in  his  speech. 
If  a  preacher  forgets  himself  to  the  extent  of  ex- 
pressing a  chance  political  opinion,  it  would  ob- 
viously be  unfair  to  him  for  you  to  play  up  that  re- 
mark as  the  summary  of  his  sermon.  Your  readers 
would  get  a  false  impression  and  the  preacher  would 
be  angry.  If  he  considers  the  chance  remark  of 
real  importance  in  his  sermon  he  will  back  it  up  with 
other  statements  that  will  give  you  an  excuse  for 
using  it.  In  brief,  watch  for  the  most  interesting 
and  most  striking  statement  in  the  entire  speech,  and 
in  selecting  this  statement  be  fair  and  just  and  try  to 
avoid  giving  a  false  impression  of  the  speaker  or 
of  the  speech.  If  you  follow  this  rule  you  will 
never  be  in  any  danger  of  getting  your  paper  into 
difficulties. 

Another  rule  in  reporting  lectures,  speeches,  etc., 
applies  to  the  writing  of  all  newspaper  stories. 
Write  your  report  at  once  while  the  speech  is  still 
fresh  in  your  mind.  Your  report  must  preserve 
the  logic  and  continuity  of  the  speech — it  must  be  a 
fair  resume.  Your  notes  will  be  at  best  mere  jot- 

148 


REPORTS    OF    SPEECHES 

tings  of  chance  sentences  here  and  there.  Do  not 
allow  them  to  get  cold  and  lose  their  continuity. 
Write  the  report  at  once. 

The  writing  of  the  report  of  a  speech,  lecture,  or 
sermon  is  the  same  whether  it  is  taken  from  a 
printed  or  stenographic  copy  of  the  discourse  or 
from  notes.  It  is  perhaps  easier  to  write  from  your 
notes  because  you  have  the  important  parts  of  the 
speech  picked  out,  ready  for  use,  by  the  aid  of  the 
rest  of  the  audience.  Before  you  can  resume  a 
printed  copy  of  the  speech  you  must  go  through  it 
and  pick  out  the  important  sentences  which  you 
wish  to  quote  and  decide  upon  the  most  striking 
statement  for  the  lead.  There  is  no  definite  rule 
that  can  be  followed  in  this  except  to  take  the  topic 
sentences  whenever  they  are  stated  with  sufficient 
clearness.  When  you  have  decided  on  the  state- 
ments that  you  wish  to  quote  you  have  really  re- 
duced the  speech  to  a  form  practically  identical  with 
the  notes  taken  from  verbal  utterance,  and  the  writ- 
ing in  either  case  is  the  same. 

The  lead  of  the  report  is  very  much  like  the  lead 
of  any  other  news  story — for  the  report  of  a  speech 
is  really  a  news  story.  As  soon  as  the  speech  is 
mentioned,  the  reader  unconsciously  asks  a  number 
of  questions  about  it  and  the  reporter  must  answer 

149 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

them  in  the  first  sentence.  As  in  any  other  news 
story  the  questions  are:  What?  Who?  Where? 
When?  and  perhaps  How?  and  Why?  Reduced  to 
the  case  of  the  speech  report,  they  amount  to  what 
did  he  say,  who  said  it,  where  did  he  say  it,  when, 
and  perhaps  how  and  why  did  he  say  it.  You  may 
answer  the  what  by  giving  the  subject  of  the  dis- 
course or  by  giving  a  striking  statement  in  it.  In 
every  report  the  answer  to  some  one  of  the  ques- 
tions is  of  greater  interest  and  must  be  placed  in  the 
first  line.  If  the  speaker  is  of  more  than  ordinary 
prominence  his  name  makes  a  good  beginning.  If 
an  ordinary  person  makes  a  speech  at  some  meeting 
of  prominence  the  when  or  where  takes  precedence 
over  his  name.  But  in  most  cases  the  reporter  will 
find  that  none  of  these  things  is  of  sufficient  impor- 
tance for  the  beginning.  Most  public  utterances 
that  he  will  be  called  upon  to  report  will  be  made  by 
ordinary  men  in  ordinary  places  and  at  ordinary 
times,  and  the  most  interesting  part  of  the  story  will 
be  what  was  said.  Sometimes  it  suffices  to  give  the 
title  of  the  speech,  but  more  often  a  striking  state- 
ment from  the  speech  makes  the  best  beginning. 
However,  although  the  speaker,  the  time,  the  place, 
etc.,  are  overshadowed  in  importance  by  the  subject 
or  content  of  what  the  speaker  says,  they  must  be 
included  in  the  same  sentence  with  the  title  or  strik- 

150 


REPORTS   OF   SPEECHES 

ing  statement.  That  is,  in  short,  we  catch  the  read- 
er's interest  with  a  striking  statement  from  the 
speech  and  then  delay  the  rest  of  the  report  while 
we  tell  who  said  it,  when,  where,  etc.  The  neces- 
sity of  this  is  obvious. 

In  accordance  with  the  foregoing  there  are  sev- 
eral possible  ways  in  which  to  begin  the  lead  of  the 
report  of  any  speech.  It  would  be  wrong  to  say 
that  any  one  is  more  common  or  better  than  the 
others;  the  choice  of  the  beginning  must  rest 
with  the  reporter.  And  yet  there  are  various  things 
to  be  noted  in  connection  with  each  of  these  be- 
ginnings. 

1.  Direct  Quotation  Beginning, — Sentence. — The 
quotation  that  is  to  have  the  first  line  must  of  course 
be  the  most  striking  or  the  most  interesting  state- 
ment in  the  speech.  If  it  consists  of  a  single  sen- 
tence— and  it  cannot  be  less  than  a  sentence — the  re- 
port may  begin  thus : 


"Participation  in  government  is  not 
only  the  privilege,  but  the  right,  of 
every  American  citizen  and  should  be 
considered  a  duty,"  said  the  Rev.  Fred- 
erick W.  Hamilton,  president  of  Tufts 
College,  who  spoke  on  "The  Political 
Duties  of  the  American  Citizen"  at  the 
monthly  men's  neighborhood  meeting  in 
the  Roxbury  Neighborhood  House  last 
night. — Boston  Herald. 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

Here  the  reporter  has  given  us  a  sentence  that  is 
practically  a  summary  of  the  speech,  has  told  us  who 
said  it,  when  and  where,  and  has  completed  the  para- 
graph with  the  title  of  the  speech.  Sometimes  the 
title  of  the  speech  is  not  of  great  importance  and 
its  place  in  the  lead  may  be  given  to  a  little  sum- 
mary as  in  the  following: 


"The  modern  man  isn't  afraid  of 
hell,"  was  the  concise  explanation  which 
W.  Lathrop  Meaker  gave  in  Franklin 
Union  Hall  yesterday  afternoon  and 
evening  of  the  fact  that  the  churches  are 
losing  their  grip  on  the  average  man. — 
New  York  Sun. 


A  question  which  embodies  the  content  of  a  speech 
may  often  be  quoted  at  the  beginning;  thus: 

"Will  the  Baptist  church  continue  to 
maintain  an  attitude  of  timidity  when 
John  D.  Rockefeller  of  Standard  Oil 
is  mentioned?"  asked  the  Rev.  R.  A. 
Bateman,  from  East  Jaffrey,  N.  H.,  of 
the  ministers  assembled  in  Ford  Hall 
last  evening  at  the  New  England  Baptist 
conference. — Boston  Herald. 

The  opening  quotation  may  sometimes  be  made  an 
excuse  for  a  brief  description  of  the  speaker  or  his 
gestures  as  in  the  following.  This  is  good  at  times 

152 


REPORTS    OF    SPEECHES 

but  it  may  easily  be  overworked  or  become  "yel- 
low" in  tone. 


"There  is  no  fire  escape,"  remarked 
Gypsy  Smith,  the  famous  English  evan- 
gelist, yesterday  before  the  fashionable 
audience  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Baptist 
Church.  He  held  aloft  a  Bible  as  he 
made  this  declaration  during  an  elo- 
quent sermon  on  the  possibility  of  losing 
faith  and  wandering  from  the  narrow 
way. — New  York  World. 


2.  Direct  Quotation  Beginning. — Paragraph.  — You 

notice  that  in  each  of  the  foregoing  the  quoted  sen- 
tence is  incorporated  grammatically  into  the  first 
sentence  of  the  lead.  It  is  followed  by  a  comma  and 

the  words   "said   Mr.   ,"    "was   the  statement 

of ,"  "declared  Mr. ,"  etc.  This  construc- 
tion is  possible  only  when  the  quoted  sentence  is 
short  and  simple.  When  it  is  long  or  complex,  it 
is  well  to  paragraph  it  separately  and  to  put  the 
explanations  in  a  separate  paragraph,  thus: 


"If  the  United  States  had  possessed 
in  1898  a  single  dirigible  balloon,  even 
of  the  size  of  the  one  now  at  Fort 
Myer,  Virginia,  which  cost  less  than 
$10,000,  the  American  army  and  navy 
would  not  have  long  remained  in  doubt 
of  the  presence  of  Cervera's  fleet  in 
Santiago  harbor." 

153 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

This  statement  was  made  today  by 
Major  G.  O.  Squler,  assistant  chief  sig- 
nal officer  of  the  army,  in  an  address 
on  aeronautics  delivered  before  the 
American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engi- 
neers at  29  West  Thirty-ninth  street. — 
New  York  Mail. 


This  same  construction  must  always  be  used  when 
the  statement  quoted  in  the  lead  consists  of  more 
than  one  sentence,  as  in  the  following : 


"The  climate  of  Wisconsin  is  as  good 
for  recovery  from  .tuberculosis  as  that 
of  any  state  in  the  union.  It  is  not  the 
climate,  but  the  out-of-doors  air  that 
works  the  cure." 

So  said  Harvey  Dee  Brown  in  his 
tuberculosis  crusade  lecture  in  Kilbourn 
park  last  night. — Milwaukee  Free  Press. 


It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  statement  quoted  in  the 
lead  is  never  split  into  two  parts,  separated  by  ex- 
planation. The  quotation  is  always  gathered  to- 
gether at  the  beginning  and  followed  by  the  expla- 
nation. 

3.  Indirect  Quotation  Beginning.  — This  method  is 
best  adapted  to  the  playing  up  of  a  brief  resume  of 
the  content  of  the  speech.  It  is  sometimes  called 
the  "Y/mf-clause  beginning"  because  it  always  begins 
with  a  that-clause  which  is  the  subject  of  the  princi- 


REPORTS    OF    SPEECHES 

pal  verb  of  the  sentence — "was  the  statement  of," 
"was  the  declaration  of,"  etc.  The  ^af-clause  may 
contain  a  resume  of  the  entire  speech  or  only  the 
most  striking  statement  in  it.  Here  is  one  of  the 
latter: 


That  the  cruise  of  the  battleship  fleet 
around  the  world  has  taught  the  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States  that  a  power- 
ful fleet  is  needed  in  the  Pacific  was  the 
statement  of  Rear  Admiral  R.  C.  Holly- 
day,  chief  of  the  bureau  of  yards  and 
docks  of  the  navy,  at  a  luncheon  given 
to  him  by  the  board  of  trustees  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  at  the  Fairmont 
Hotel  yesterday. — San  Francisco  Exam- 
iner. 


It  is  not  always  necessary  to  use  the  phrase  "was 
the  statement  of."  A  variation  from  it  is  often 
very  good : 


That  it  is  the  urgent  mission  of  the 
white  people  of  America,  through  their 
churches  and  Sunday-schools,  to  educate 
the  American  negro  morally  and  re- 
ligiously, was  the  sentiment  of  the 
twelfth  session  of  the  International  Sun- 
day-school Convention  last  night,  voiced 
with  special  power  and  eloquence  by  Dr. 
Booker  T.  Washington,  the  chief 
speaker  of  the  evening. — Louisville 
Courier-Journal. 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

That  the  Irish  race  has  a  great  des- 
tiny to  fulfill,  one  greater  than  it  has 
achieved  in  its  glorious  past,  was  the 
prophecy  of  Prof.  Charles  Johnston  of 
Dublin  university  in  his  lecture  at  the 
city  library  Sunday  afternoon. — Wiscon- 
sin State  Journal. 

It  is  perfectly  good  usage  to  begin  such  a  lead 
with  two  that-dauses  or  even  with  three.  The  two 
clauses  in  this  case  are  of  course  treated  as  a  singu- 
lar subject  and  take  a  singular  verb.  It  is  usually 
best  not  to  have  more  than  three  clauses  at  the  begin- 
ning and  even  three  must  be  handled  with  great 
care.  Three  clauses  at  the  beginning,  if  at  all  long, 
bury  the  speaker's  name  too  deeply  and  may  become 
too  complicated.  Unless  the  clauses  are  very  closely 
related  in  idea,  it  is  usually  better  not  to  use  more 
than  two.  Naturally  when  more  than  one  that- 
clause  is  used  in  the  lead,  all  of  the  clauses  must  be 
gathered  together  at  the  beginning;  never  should 
one  precede  and  one  follow  the  principal  verb.  Here 
is  an  example  of  good  usage : 

NEW  YORK,  Feb.  25.— That  Amer- 
ica is  entering  upon  a  new  era  of  civic 
and  business  rectitude  and  that  this  is 
due  to  the  awakening  of  the  moral 
conscience  of  the  whole  people  was  the 
prophecy  made  here  tonight  by  Gov- 
ernor Joseph  W.  Folk  of  Missouri. — 
Chicago  Record-Herald. 

156 


REPORTS    OF    SPEECHES 

4.  Summary  Beginning. — This  is  a  less  formal  way 
of  treating  the  indirect  quotation  beginning.  It 
is  simply  a  different  grammatical  construction. 
Whereas  in  the  //iatf-clause  beginning  the  principal 
verb  of  the  sentence  is  outside  the  summary  (e.  g., 
'That  .  .  .  was  the  statement  of"),  in  the 
summary  beginning  the  principal  verb  of  the  sen- 
tence is  the  verb  of  the  summary  and  the  speaker  is 
brought  in  by  means  of  a  modifying  phrase;  thus : 

MINNEAPOLIS,  Oct.  i.— Both  the 
free  trader  and  the  stand-patter  are 
back  numbers,  according  to  Senator  Al- 
bert J.  Beveridge  of  Indiana,  who  de- 
livered a  tariff  speech  here  tonight. — 
Milwaukee  Free  Press. 

Federal  control  of  the  capitalization  of 
railroads  is  the  solution  of  the  railroad 
problem  suggested  by  E.  L.  Phillipp,  the 
well-known  Milwaukee  railroad  expert, 
in  the  course  of  a  speech  at  the  third 
annual  banquet  of,  etc. — Milwaukee  Free 
Press. 

The  summary  beginning  may  be  handled  in  many 
different  ways  and  allows  perhaps  more  grammatical 
liberty  than  any  other  beginning.  The  summary 
may  even  be  given  a  sentence  by  itself  as  in  the 
following.  This  kind  of  treatment  may  easily  be 
overdone  and  should  be  handled  with  great  caution : 

157 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 


If  you  have  acute  mania,  it  is  the 
proper  thing  to  take  the  music  cure. 
Miss  Jessie  A.  Fowler  says  so,  and  she 
knows.  Miss  Fowler  discussed  "Music 
Hygienically"  before  the  "Rainy 
Daisies"  at  the  Hotel  Astor  yesterday 
and  prescribed  musical  treatment  for 
various  brands  of  mania. — New  York 
World. 


5.  Keynote  Beginning. — Very  closely  related  to 
the  summary  beginning-  is  the  keynote  beginning,  in 
which  the  subject  of  the  main  verb  is  an  indirect 
presentation  of  the  content  of  the  speech.  Whereas 
the  summary  beginning  displays  its  resume  in  a 
complete  sentence,  the  keynote  beginning  puts  the 
content  of  the  speech  in  a  single  noun  and  its  modi- 
fiers. Thus : 


The  ideal  state  university  was  the 
theme  of  a  speech  delivered  by,  etc. 

The  mission  of  the  newspaper  to  tell 
the  truth,  to  stand  for  high  ideals,  and 
to  strive  to  have  those  ideals  adopted 
by  the  public  was  the  keynote  of  an  ad- 
dress delivered  by,  etc. 


6.  Participial  Beginning — This  is  less  common 
than  the  other  kinds  of  indirect  quotation  beginnings 
but  it  is  often  very  effective.  The  summary  of  the 
speech  or  the  most  striking  statement  is  put  into  a 

158 


REPORTS    OF   SPEECHES 


participial  phrase  at  the  beginning  and  is  made  to 
modify  the  subject  of  the  sentence  (the  speaker). 
It  must  of  course  be  remembered  that  such  a  par- 
ticipial phrase  can  be  used  only  to  modify  a  noun, 
as  an  adjective  modifies  a  noun,  and  can  never  be 
made  the  subject  of  a  verb.  Here  is  an  example  of 
good  use  of  this  beginning: 


Upholding  the  right  of  public  criti- 
cism of  the  courts  on  the  theory  that 
there  can  be  no  impropriety  in  investi- 
gating any  act  of  a  public  official,  Judge 
Kennesaw  M.  Landis  last  night  ad- 
dressed the  students  of  Marquette  Col- 
lege of  Law  and  many  members  of  the 
Milwaukee  bar. — Milwaukee  Free  Press. 


Just  as  it  is  perfectly  possible  to  begin  an  indirect 
quotation  lead  with  two  that-clauses  instead  of  one, 
it  is  also  possible  to  use  two  participial  phrases  in 
the  participial  beginning ;  as : 


Pleading  for  justice  and  human  af- 
fection in  dealing  with  the  delinquent 
child,  and  urging  the  vital  need  of  leg- 
islation which  shall  enforce  parental 
responsibility,  Mrs.  Nellie  Duncan  made 
an  address  yesterday  which  stirred  the 
sympathies  of  an  attentive  audience  in 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church.— San 
Francisco  Examiner. 


159 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

Although  the  participial  phrase  usually  gives  the 
summary  of  the  speech,  not  infrequently  the  par- 
ticipial construction  is  used  to  play  up  the  name  of 
the  speech  or  some  other  fact  and  the  summary  comes 
after  the  principal  verb  of  the  lead ;  thus : 


Paying  tribute  to  the  memory  of 
President  William  McKinley  last  night 
at  the  Metropolitan  Temple,  where  ex- 
ercises were  held  to  dedicate  the  Mc- 
Kinley memorial  organ,  Judge  Taft  told 
in  detail  of  his  commission  to  the  Phil- 
ippine service  and  his  subsequent  inti- 
mate connection  with  the  President. — 
New  York  Tribune. 


7.  Title  Beginning — There  are  two  reasons  for  be- 
ginning the  report  of  a  public  utterance  with  the 
speaker's  subject  or  title.  The  title  itself  may  be 
so  broad  that  it  makes  a  good  summary  of  the 
speech,  or  it  may  be  so  striking  in  itself  that  it  at- 
tracts interest  at  once.  In  the  following  examples 
the  title  is  really  a  summary  of  the  speech: 


NEW  YORK,  Dec.  15.— "The  Com- 
pensation of  Employes  for  Injuries  Re- 
ceived While  at  Work"  was  taken  by 
J.  D.  Beck,  commissioner  of  labor  of 
Wisconsin,  as  the  theme  of  his  address 
before  the  National  Civic  Federation 
here  today. — Milwaukee  Free  Press. 

160 


REPORTS    OF   SPEECHES 

"The  Emmanuel  Movement"  was  the 
subject  of  an  address  by  Rabbi  Stephen 
S.  Wise  of  the  Free  Synagogue  yester- 
day morning. — New  York  Evening  Post. 


In  the  following  stories  the  reporter  began  with 
the  title  evidently  because  it  was  so  strikingly  un- 
usual and  also  because  it  was  the  title  of  a  strikingly 
unusual  speech  by  an  unusual  man.  This  kind  of 
title  beginning  is  always  very  effective : 

"Booze,  or  Get  on  the  Water  Wagon," 
was  the  subject  on  which  Rev.  Billy 
Sunday,  the  baseball  evangelist,  ad- 
dressed an  audience  of  over  4,000  per- 
sons at  the  Midland  Chautauqua  yes- 
terday afternoon.  For  two  hours  Sun- 
day fired  volley  after  volley  at  the 
liquor  traffic. — Des  Moines  Capital. 

"If  Christ  Came  to  Milwaukee"  was 
the  subject  of  the  Rev.  Paul  B.  Jenkin's 
Sunday  night  in  Immanuel  Presbyterian 
Church. — Milwaukee  Sentinel. 

8.  Speaker  Beginning. — It  is  obvious  that  this  is 
the  easiest  beginning  that  may  be  used  in  the  report 
of  a  speech.  But  just  as  obviously  it  is  the  begin- 
ning that  should  be  least  used.  Just  as  in  writing 
news  stories  a  green  reporter  always  attempts  to 
begin  every  lead  with  the  name  of  some  person  in- 
volved, in  reporting  a  public  discourse  he  has  a 

161 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

strong  desire  to  put  the  name  of  the  speaker  before 
what  the  speaker  said.  But  the  same  tests  may  be 
applied  to  both  cases.  Are  our  readers  more  inter- 
ested in  what  a  man  does  than  in  the  man  himself; 
do  our  readers  go  to  hear  a  given  speaker  because 
they  wish  to  hear  what  he  has  to  say  or  because 
they  wish  to  hear  him?  Whenever  the  public  is  so 
interested  in  a  man  that  it  does  not  care  what  he 
says,  then  you  may  feel  safe  in  beginning  the  report 
of  what  he  says  with  his  name.  This  test  may  be 
altered,  especially  in  smaller  cities,  by  previous  in- 
terest in  the  speech ;  if  the  speech  has  been  expected 
and  looked  forward  to  with  interest,  then,  no  mat- 
ter if  the  speaker  is  the  President  himself,  his  name 
is  not  as  good  news  as  what  he  has  to  say.  Even 
if  the  lead  does  begin  with  the  speaker's  name,  the 
reporter  usually  tries  to  bring  a  summary  of  the 
speech  or  the  most  striking  statement  into  the  first 
sentence  after  the  name.  For  example : 


Speaker  Joseph  G.  Cannon  placed 
himself  on  record  last  night  in  favor 
of  a  revision  of  the  tariff  in  accordance 
with  the  promise  of  the  Republican 
party  platform  and  declared  that  so  far 
as  his  vote  was  concerned  he  would  see 
to  it  that  the  announced  policy  of  re- 
vision would  be  written  in  the  national 
laws  as  soon  as  possible.  The  words 
of  the  speaker  came  at  a  luncheon  given 

162 


REPORTS    OF    SPEECHES 

to  six  rear  admirals  of  the  United  States 
navy  by  Alexander  H.  Revell  of  Chicago 
in  the  Union  League  Club,  at  which  the 
need  of  more  battleships  and  increased 
efficiency  of  the  fighting  forces  of  the 
republic  were  the  principal  themes  of 
discussion. 


This  example  was  chosen  because,  while  it  is  writ- 
ten in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  the  speaker  be- 
ginning, it  is  obviously  too  long  and  complicated 
—over  no  words.  It  would  be  better  to  gather  it 
together  and  condense  it  as  in  the  following: 

Chief  Forester  Gifford  Pinchot  opened 
the  second  day's  session  of  the  national 
conservation  congress  yesterday  by  an 
address  in  which  he  expressed  his  en- 
tire satisfaction  and  his  confidence  in 
the  attitude  of  President  Taft  toward 
conservating  the  national  resources. — 
Milwaukee  Sentinel. 

ST.  PAUL,  Minn.,  Feb.  10.— Booker 
T.  Washington  of  Tuskegee,  Ala.,  in  an 
address  at  the  People's  Church  tonight 
predicted  that  within  two  years  the 
liquor  traffic  would  be  driven  out  of  all 
the  southern  states  but  two. — Milwaukee 
Sentinel. 

There  are  obviously  other  beginnings  that  can- 
not be  classed  under  any  of  the  above  heads.     Some 
of  them,  much  like  the  "freak"  leads  that  may  be 
12  163 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

seen  in  many  newspapers  of  the  present  day,  may  be 
called  free  beginnings  for  want  of  a  better  name. 
These  free  beginnings  are  quite  effective  when  prop- 
erly handled  but  the  novice  must  use  them  with  fear 
and  trembling.  They  may  be  witty  or  they  may  be 
sarcastic,  but  they  are  usually  dangerous.  The  dif- 
ference in  the  eight  beginnings  discussed  above  is 
mainly  one  of  grammatical  construction;  the  same 
fundamental  ideas  govern  them  all.  Their  pur- 
pose is  always  to  play  up  a  'striking  statement  or  a 
summary  of  the  speech  report  and  to  give  at  the 
very  outset  the  necessary  explanation  concerning 
the  speech. 

THE    BODY    OF    THE    REPORT 

The  body  of  the  report  of  a  speech  is  not  so  dis- 
tinct from  the  lead  as  the  body  of  an  ordinary 
news  story.  In  the  news  story  it  is  safe  to  assume 
that  many  readers  will  not  go  beyond  the  lead,  but 
in  the  report  of  a  speech  this  is  not  so  true.  It  is 
less  possible  to  give  the  main  facts  in  the  lead  of 
a  speech  report  and  the  rest  of  the  story  is  more 
necessary.  Hence  it  must  be  written  with  as  great 
care  as  the  lead. 

The  body  of  the  report  should  consist  of  direct 
quotation  in  so  far  as  possible.  The  reader  is  in- 

164 


REPORTS   OF   SPEECHES 

terested  in  what  the  speaker  said  and  it  is  impos- 
sible to  make  a  summary  in  indirect  discourse  as 
convincing  as  the  actual  quotation  of  his  words.  Be 
sure  that  the  quotations  are  the  speaker's  exact 
words  or  very  nearly  his  exact  words,  so  that  he 
cannot  accuse  you  of  misquoting  him.  The  spirit 
of  his  words  must  be  in  the  quotation,  anyway. 

In  these  quotations  nothing  less  than  a  complete 
sentence  should  be  quoted.  Do  not  patch  together 
sentences  of  indirect  and  direct  quotation,  like  the 
following — 'He  said  that  some  of  us  are  prone  to 
let  things  be  as  they  are,  "because  the  philanthropic 
rich  help  in  our  times  of  trouble  and  in  sickness." 
Such  quotation  is  worse  than  no  direct  quotation 
at  all.  Of  course,  this  does  not  mean  that  one  can- 
not add  "said  the  speaker"  to  a  direct  quotation,  but 
it  means  that  "said  the  speaker"  can  be  added  only 
to  quotations  that  are  complete  sentences.  Further- 
more whenever  it  is  necessary  to  bring  in  "said  the 
speaker,"  or  similar  expressions,  they  should  be 
added  at  the  end  of  the  quoted  sentence — the  least 
emphatic  part  of  a  newspaper  sentence. 

Obviously  a  condensed  report  of  a  speech  can  only 
quote  sentences  here  and  there  throughout  the 
speech — the  high  spots  of  interest,  as  we  called 
them  before.  These  must  not  be  quoted  promiscu- 
ously and  disconnectedly.  The  original  speech  had 

165 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

a  logical  order  and  set  forth  a  logical  train  of 
thought.  These  should  be  followed  as  far  as  pos- 
sible in  the  report.  Bring  in  the  quotations  in  their 
true  order  and  fill  the  gaps  between  them  with  in- 
direct discourse  to  knit  them  together  and  to  give 
the  report  the  coherence  of  the  original  speech.  But 
do  not  carry  this  indirect  explanation  to  the  extent 
of  making  your  copy  a  report  of  the  speech  in  in- 
direct discourse  with  occasional  bits  of  direct  quo- 
tation to  illustrate.  Remember  that,  after  all,  the 
direct  quotation  is  the  truly  effective  part  of  the 
speech. 

Whenever  a  paragraph  contains  both  direct  and 
indirect  quotation,  the  direct  quotation  should  al- 
ways precede  the  indirect.  But  it  is  much  better 
to  paragraph  the  two  kinds  of  quotation  separately, 
making  each  paragraph  entirely  of  direct,  or  entirely 
of  indirect,  quotation.  If  a  paragraph  must  contain 
both,  begin  it  with  the  direct  so  that  as  the  reader 
glances  down  the  column  he  will  see  a  quotation 
mark  at  the  beginnings  of  most,  if  not  all,  of  the 
paragraphs.  By  the  same  sign,  when  your  notes 
are  lacking  in  direct  quotations,  bring  in  as  many 
of  the  quotations  as  possible  at  the  beginning  of  the 
report  and  let  the  indirect  summary  occupy  the  end 
where  it  may  be  cut  off  by  the  editor  if  he  does  not 
wish  to  run  it. 

166 


REPORTS    OF    SPEECHES 

Here  is  a  good  illustration  of  a  part  of  the  body 
of  a  good  speech  report — it  is  the  second  paragraph 
of  one  of  the  stories  quoted  under  the  "Speaker" 
beginning  above : 

"I  can  not  account  for  the  moral  revo- 
lution that  is  sweeping  over  the  South," 
he  continued.  "The  sentiment  against 
whisky  is  deeper  than  the  mere  desire  to 
get  it  away  from  the  black  man.  That 
same  sentiment  is  found  in  counties  that 
contain  no  negro  population.  People 
who  say  that  the  law  will  not  be  en- 
forced have  not  been  in  the  South. — 
B.  T.  Washington's  speech,  Milwaukee 
Sentinel. 

You  will  notice  that  although  the  above  paragraph 
is  composed  entirely  of  direct  quotation  it  has  no 
quotation  mark  at  the  end.  This  is,  of  course,  in 
accordance  with  the  old  rule  of  rhetoric  which  says 
that  in  a  continuous  quotation  each  paragraph  shall 
begin  with  a  quotation  mark  but  only  the  last  shall 
be  closed  by  a  quotation  mark. 

To  illustrate  the  errors  that  may  be  made  in  re- 
porting speeches  we  might  write  the  above  para- 
graph as  follows: 


Mr.  Washington  continued  by  saying 
that  he  could  not  account  for  the  revo- 
lution that  is  sweeping  over  the  South. 

167 


NEWSPAPER  REPORTING 

"The  sentiment  against  whisky  is  deeper 
than  the  mere  desire  to  get  it  away  from 
the  black  man."  He  says  that  "the  same 
sentiment  is  found  in  counties  that  con- 
tain no  negro  population."  People  who 
say  that  the  law  will  not  be  enforced 
"have  not  been  in  the  South,"  accord- 
ing to  Booker  T.  Washington. 

The  clumsiness  of  this  mingling  of  direct  and  indi- 
rect quotation  is  very  clear,  as  is  the  weakness  of  be- 
ginning with  an  explanation  that  is  really  subordi- 
nate. 

Much  more  could  be  said  about  the  reporting  of 
speeches.  Very  few  things  will  make  a  man  so 
angry  as  the  misquoting  of  his  words.  Therefore, 
whatever  other  faults  your  report  of  a  speech  may 
have,  let  it  be  accurate  and  truthful. 


XI 

INTERVIEWS 

If  you  compare  any  interview  story  with  any 
speech  report  in  any  representative  newspaper,  you 
will  readily  see  how  a  discussion  of  interviews  eas- 
ily becomes  an  explanation  of  the  differences  be- 
tween interview  stories  and  speech-reports;  that 
is,  how  the  report  of  an  interview  differs  from  the 
report  of  a  public  utterance  of  a  more  formal  kind. 
There  are  few  differences  in  the  written  reports. 
Each  usually  begins  with  a  summary  or  a  striking 
statement  and  consists  largely  of  direct  quotation. 
Were  it  not  for  the  line  or  two  of  explanation  at 
the  end  of  the  introduction,  it  would  be  practically 
impossible  to  tell  the  one  from  the  other,  to  tell 
which  of  the  reports  sets  forth  statements  made  in 
a  public  discourse  and  which  gives  statements  made 
in  a  more  private  way  to  a  reporter. 

The  difference  lies  behind  the  report,  in  the  way 
the  reporter  obtained  the  stateinents  and  quotations. 
And  the  whole  difference  depends  upon  the  attitude 

169 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

of  the  man  who  made  the  statements — whether  his 
words  were  a  conscious  or  an  unconscious  public 
utterance.  When  a  man  speaks  from  a  platform  he 
utters  every  sentence  and  every  word  with  an  idea 
of  possible  quotation — he  is  not  only  willing  to  be 
quoted  but  he  wants  to  be  quoted.  But  when  he 
speaks  privately  to  a  reporter  he  usually  dreads  quo- 
tation. Of  course,  he  expects  that  you  will  print  a 
few  of  his  remarks  but  he  is  constantly  hoping  that 
you  will  not  remember  and  print  them  all.  He 
speaks  more  guardedly,  too,  since  he  is  not  sure  of 
the  interpretation  that  may  be  given  to  his  words. 
Hence  it  is  a  very  different  matter  to  report  what 
a  man  says  in  public  and  to  get  statements  for  the 
press  from  him  in  private.  Any  one  can  report 
a  speech  but  great  skill  is  required  to  get  a  good  in- 
terview— especially  if  the  victim  is  unwilling  to  talk. 
The  first  matter  that  a  reporter  has  to  consider 
is  the  means  of  retaining  the  statements  until  he 
is  able  to  write  his  story.  It  is  a  simple  matter  to 
get  quotations  from  a  speech  because  it  is  possible 
to  sit  anywhere  in  the  audience  and  write  down 
the  speaker's  words  in  a  notebook  as  they  are  ut- 
tered. But  the  notebook  must  be  left  behind  when 
you  try  to  interview.  When  a  man  is  not  used  to 
being  interviewed  nothing  will  make  him  reticent 
so  quickly  as  the  appearance  of  a  notebook  and  pen- 

170 


INTERVIEWS 

cil ;  he  realizes  that  his  words  are  to  appear  in  print 
just  as  he  utters  them  and  he  immediately  becomes 
frightened.  Ordinarily  so  long  as  he  feels  that 
what  he  says  is  going  into  the  confidential  ear  of 
the  reporter — and  out  of  the  other  ear  just 
as  quickly — he  is  willing  to  talk  more  freely  and 
openly  and  to  say  exactly  what  he  thinks.  This, 
of  course,  does  not  apply  to  prominent  men  who 
are  used  to  being  interviewed  and  prefer  to  have 
their  remarks  taken  down  verbatim.  Such  an  in- 
terview, however,  is  little  more  than  a  call  to  se- 
cure a  statement  for  publication. 

It  might  be  well  to  settle  the  notebook  question 
here  and  now  when  it  assumes  the  greatest  impor- 
tance. The  stage  has  hardened  us  to  seeing  a  re- 
porter slinking  around  the  outskirts  of  every  bit  of 
excitement  writing  excitedly  and  hurriedly  in  a 
large  leather  notebook.  So  hardened  are  we  to  the 
sight  that  some  new  reporters  buy  a  notebook  just 
as  soon  as  they  get  a  place  on  a  newspaper  staff. 
But  real  reporters  on  real  newspapers  do  not  use 
notebooks.  A  few  sheets  of  folded  copy  paper  hid- 
den carefully  in  an  inside  pocket  ready  for  names 
and  addresses  and  perhaps  figures  are  all  that  most 
of  them  carry.  Many  people  dread  publicity  and 
the  appearance  of  a  notebook  frightens  them  into 
silence  more  quickly  than  the  actual  appearance  of 

171 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

a  representative  of  the  press.  This  is  true  in  the 
reporting  of  any  bit  of  news,  in  the  covering  of  any 
story — and  it  is  ordinarily  true  in  interviewing  for 
statements  that  are  to  be  quoted.  Of  course,  an 
exception  to  this  must  be  made  in  the  case  of  some 
prominent  men  who  prefer  to  issue  signed  written 
statements  when  they  are  interviewed. 

The  impossibility  of  using  a  notebook  or  writing 
down  a  man's  words  in  an  interview  seriously  com- 
plicates the  task  of  interviewing.  Some  reporters 
train  themselves  until  they  are  able  to  remember 
their  victim's  words  long  enough  to  get  outside  and 
write  them  down.  Others  are  satisfied  with  getting 
the  ideas  and  the  spirit  of  what  is  said  together  with 
the  man's  manner  of  talking.  A  few  characteristic 
mannerisms  thrown  in  with  a  true  report  of  his 
ideas  will  make  any  speaker  believe  that  you  have 
quoted  him  exactly.  Whichever  method  is  pursued, 
the  reporter  must  always  be  fair  and  try  to  tell  the 
readers  of  the  paper  the  man's  true  ideas.  The  ex- 
igencies of  the  case  give  the  reporter  greater  liberty 
than  in  quoting  from  a  speech  but  he  must  not  abuse 
his  liberty. 

The  success  of  an  interview  depends  very  largely 
upon  the  way  in  which  a  reporter  approaches  the 
man  whom  he  wishes  to  interview.  It  is  never  well 
to  trust  to  the  inspiration  of  the  moment  to  start 

172 


INTERVIEWS 

the  conversation.  The  reporter  must  know  exactly 
what  he  wishes  to  have  the  man  say  before  he  ap- 
proaches him  and  must  already  have  framed  his 
questions  so  as  to  draw  out  the  answers  that  he 
wishes.  People  are  never  interviewed  except  for  a 
purpose  and  that  purpose  should  suggest  -the  re- 
porter's first  question.  No  matter  how  willing  the 
man  is  to  tell  what  he  thinks  he  will  seldom  begin 
talking  until  the  reporter  asks  him  a.  definite  ques- 
tion to  help  him  in  putting  his  thoughts  into  words. 
All  of  this  should  be  considered  beforehand.  The 
reporter  should  have  outlined  a  definite  campaign 
and  have  a  series  of  questions  which  he  wishes  to 
ask.  If  he  has  written  the  questions  out  before- 
hand, the  task  becomes  an  easier  one — he  merely 
fills  in  the  answers  on  his  list  later  and  has  the  in- 
terview in  better  form  than  if  he  had  tried  to  trust 
entirely  to  his  memory.  To  be  sure,  the  questions 
may  open  up  unexpected  lines  of  thought  and  he 
may  get  more  than  he  went  for,  but  he  must  have 
his  questions  ready  for  use  as  soon  as  each  new  line 
is  exhausted.  A  skilled  reporter  frames  the  inter- 
view himself  and  keeps  the  result  entirely  in  his  own 
hands  through  the  campaign  that  he  has  outlined 
beforehand.  Unless  he  knows  exactly  what  he 
wants  to  get,  a  wary  victim  may  lead  him  off  upon 
unimportant  facts  and  in  the  end  tell  him  nothing 

173 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

that  his  paper  has  sent  him  to  get.  A  reporter  must 
keep  the  reins  of  an  interview  in  his  own  possession. 

A  good  reporter  takes  great  care  in  his  manner 
of  addressing  a  man  whom  he  is  to  interview.  A 
well-known  newspaper  follows  the  rule  of  asking 
its  reporters  never  to  do  what  a  gentleman  would  not 
do.  A  reporter  who  is  trying  to  interview  must  al- 
ways be  a  gentleman  and  must  not  ask  questions 
that  a  gentleman  would  not  ask.  If  the  victim  is 
a  prominent  man  of  great  personality  it  is  not  hard 
to  follow  this  rule — in  fact,  it  is  impossible  to  get 
the  interview  by  any  other  method  of  approach.  But 
when  one  is  trying  to  interview  a  person  of  humbler 
station,  the  case  is  different.  It  is  very  easy  then 
to  fall  into  a  habit  of  demanding  information  and 
turning  the  interview  into  an  inquisition.  But  the 
reporter  who  keeps  his  attitude  as  a  gentleman  gets 
more  real  facts  even  when  his  victim  is  of  the  most 
humble  social  status.  Therefore,  never  approach 
your  victim  as  if  he  were  a  witness  and  you  a  cross- 
questioning  lawyer.  Do  not  say :  "See  here,  you 
know  more  about  it  than  that,"  and  thus  try  to 
force  unwilling  information  from  him.  Go  at  him 
in  a  more  round-about  way  and  lead  him  to  give 
you  the  facts  unwittingly  perhaps. 

A  young  reporter  often  feels  an  impulse  to  become 
too  personal  with  the  man  whom  he  is  interviewing. 

174 


INTERVIEWS 

He  must  always  remember  that  he  is  not  there  for 
a  friendly  chat  but  as  a  representative  of  a  news- 
paper, sent  to  get  concise  facts  or  opinions.  This 
attitude  must  be  maintained  even  with  the  humblest 
persons.  Any  desire  to  sympathize,  criticize,  or  ad- 
vise must  be  checked  at  the  very  start.  The  point 
of  view  must  always  be  kept. 

Although  the  main  difference  between  writing  in- 
terview stories  and  reporting  speeches  lies  in  the 
very  act  of  getting  the  quotations  and  words  of  the 
speaker,  there  are  certain  aspects  in  which  the  writ- 
ing of  an  interview  story  is  different.  The  actual 
form  of  the  two  stories  is  almost  identical  and  yet 
there  is  a  tone  in  the  interview  story  that  is  lacking 
in  the  report  of  a  speech.  This  may  be  called  the 
personal  tone. 

The  very  name  of  the  speaker  obviously  plays  a 
much  larger  part  in  the  interview  story  than  in  the 
speech  report.  We  may  be  more  interested  in  what 
a  man  says  in  a  public  discourse  than  we  are  in  the 
man,  but  when  we  interview  a  man  we  want  his 
opinions  not  for  themselves  so  much  as  because  they 
are  his  opinions.  An  interview  with  the  President 
on  the  tariff  is  not  necessarily  interesting  in  the 
new  ideas  that  it  brings  out,  for  we  have  many 
other  ways  of  knowing  the  President's  opinions  on 

175 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

the  tariff  question ;  but  the  interview  is  worth  print- 
ing because  every  one  is  interested  in  reading  any- 
thing that  the  President  says,  although  he  may  have 
read  the  same  thing  many  times  before.  A  man 
is  seldom  interviewed  unless  he  is  of  some  promi- 
nence— that  is  why  he  is  interviewed,  and  so  in 
the  resulting  story  his  name  plays  a  very  important 
part.  In  fact,  his  name  is  usually  the  feature  of 
the  story;  most  interview  stories  begin  directly 
with  the  name  of  the  man  whose  statements  are 
quoted. 

Although  a  man  may  be  interviewed  simply 
because  of  his  prominence  and  popularity,  there  is 
usually  another  reason  for  the  interview.  We  are 
interested  not  only  in  hearing  him  say  something 
but  we  wish  to  hear  him  say  something  on  a  certain 
topic.  The  interview  thus  has  a  timeliness,  a  reason 
for  existence.  Since  this  timeliness  is  the  reason 
for  printing  a  certain  man's  statements,  the  re- 
porter's account  must  indicate  that  timeliness  near 
the  beginning.  That  is,  the  first  sentence  of  an 
interview  story  must  not  only  tell  who  was  inter- 
viewed and  the  gist  of  what  he  said,  but  it  must 
tell  why  he  said  it.  The  interview  must  be  connected 
with  the  rest  of  the  day's  news.  This  comes  out 
very  definitely  in  the  custom  which  many  news- 
papers have  of  printing  the  opinions  of  many  promi- 


INTERVIEWS 

nent  men  in  connection  with  any  important  event. 
Perhaps  it  is  because  we  wish  to  know  their  opin- 
ions on  the  subject  or  perhaps  it  is  simply  because 
we  are  glad  to  have  a  chance  to  hear  them  talk — at 
any  rate  many  editors  make  any  great  event  an  ex- 
cuse for  a  series  of  interviews.  This  is  illustrated 
by  the  opinions  of  the  various  labor  leaders  that 
were  printed  with  the  story  of  the  recent  confession 
of  the  McNamara  brothers.  In  such  a  case,  the  re- 
porter must  make  the  reason  for  the  interview  his 
starting  point  in  the  report  and  must  indicate  very 
plainly  why  the  man  was  interviewed. 

This  idea  of  timeliness  is  very  often  carried  to  the 
extent  of  making  the  interview  merely  a  denial  or 
an  assertion  from  the  mouth  of  a  well-known  man. 
There  may  be  an  upheaval  in  Wall  Street.  Immedi- 
ately the  papers  print  an  interview  in  which  some 
prominent  financier  denies  or  asserts  that  he  is  at  the 
bottom  of  the  upheaval.  Naturally  the  report  of  the 
interview  begins  with  the  very  words  of  the  denial  or 
the  assertion.  Very  often  a  man  when  interviewed 
refuses  to  say  anything  on  the  subject.  The  fact 
that  he  has  nothing  to  say  does  not  mean  that  the 
interview  is  not  worth  reporting.  In  fact,  that  re- 
fusal to  speak  may  be  the  most  effective  thing  that 
he  could  say.  The  reporter  begins  by  telling  that 
his  man  had  nothing  to  say  on  the  subject  and  ends 

177 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

by  telling  what  he  should  have  said  or  what  his  re- 
fusal to  speak  probably  means, — if  the  paper  is  not 
too  scrupulous  in  such  matters.  At  any  rate,  the 
denial  or  assertion  or  refusal  to  speak  becomes  the 
starting  point  of  the  report  and  furnishes  the  ex- 
cuse for  the  interview  story.  The  expanded  remarks 
that  follow  the  lead  are  of  course  important  but  they 
are  not  so  important  as  the  primary  expression  of 
opinion  that  the  reporter  went  for. 

The  personal  element  in  interviewing  may  be  car- 
ried to  an  extreme  extent.  The  man  who  is  inter- 
viewed may  so  far  overshadow  the  importance  of 
what  he  says  that  the  report  of  the  interview  be- 
comes almost  a  sketch  of  the  man  himself.  That 
is,  the  report  is  filled  with  human  interest.  The 
quotations  are  interspersed  with  action  and  descrip- 
tion. We  are  told  how  the  man  acted  when  he  said 
each  individual  thing.  His  appearance,  attitude,  ex- 
pression, and  surroundings  become  as  important 
as  his  words  and  are  brought  into  the  report  as  viv- 
idly as  possible.  Such  an  interview  may  become 
almost  large  enough  to  be  used  as  a  special  feature 
story  for  the  Sunday  edition,  but  when  the  human 
interest  is  limited  to  a  comparatively  subordinate 
position  the  report  still  keeps  its  character  as  an 
interview  news  story.  Such  a  thing  may  be  illus- 
trated from  the  daily  press : 

178 


INTERVIEWS 

"I  would  rather  have  four  battleships 
and  need  only  two  than  to  have  two  and 
need  four." 

Seated  in  the  cool  library  of  Colonel 
A.  K.  McClure's  summer  home  at  Wal- 
lingford,  Rear  Admiral  Winfield  Scott 
Schley,  retired,  thus  expressed  himself 
yesterday  on  the  need  of  a  larger  and 
greater  navy. 


After  all  has  been  said  about  interviewing,  the 
one  thing  that  a  reporter  must  remember  is  that 
an  interview  story  is  at  best  rather  dry  and  every- 
thing that  he  can  do  to  increase  the  interest  will 
improve  the  interview.  But  all  of  this  must  be 
done  with  absolute  fairness  to  the  speaker  and  great 
truthfulness  in  the  quotation  of  his  ideas  and 
opinions. 

To  come  to  the  technical  form  of  the  interview 
story,  we  find  that  there  are  very  nearly  as  many 
possible  beginnings  as  in  the  case  of  the  report  of 
a  speech.  The  interview  story  must  begin  with  a 
lead  that  tells  who  was  interviewed,  when,  and 
where,  what  he  said  (in  a  quotation  or  an  indirect 
summary),  and  why  he  was  interviewed.  This  is 
like  the  lead  of  a  speech  report  in  every  particular 
except  in  the  timeliness — the  occasion  for  a  speech 
is  seldom  mentioned  in  the  lead,  but  a  reporter  usu- 
13  179 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

ally  tells  at  once  why  he  interviewed  the  man  whose 
words  he  quotes. 

1.  Speaker  Beginning. — The  very  purpose  behind 
interviewing  makes  the  so-called  speaker  beginning 
most  common.  It  is  almost  an  invariable  rule  that 
the  report  of  an  interview  must  begin  with  the 
man's  name  unless  what  he  says  is  of  greater  im- 
portance than  his  name — which  is  seldom. 

The  simplest  form  of  the  speaker  beginning  is  the 
one  in  which  the  speaker's  name  is  followed  directly 
by  a  summary  of  what  he  said,  as : 


Dr.  David  Starr  Jordan,  president  of 
Leland  Stanford  Junior  University,  said 
yesterday  at  the  Holland  House  that  in 
the  development  of  American  universi- 
ties educators  must  separate  the  lower 
two  classes  from  the  upper  two,  the 
present  freshman  and  sophomore  classes 
to  be  absorbed  by  small  colleges  or  sup- 
plemental high  schools,  making  the  ju- 
nior year  the  first  in  the  university  train- 
ing. He  said  the  universities  should  re- 
ceive only  men,  not  boys. — New  York 
Tribune. 


Another  kind  of  speaker  beginning  may  devote 
most  of  the  lead  to  the  explanation  of  the  reason 
for  the  interview,  giving  the  briefest  possible  sum- 
mary of  what  was  said :  Thus : 

180 


INTERVIEWS 

Director  Lang  of  the  department  of 
public  safety  is  going  to  place  a  ban  on 
the  playing  of  tennis  on  Sunday.  He 
doesn't  know  just  yet  how  he  is  going 
to  accomplish  this,  but  yesterday  he  de- 
clared that  he  would  find  some  law  ap- 
plicable to  the  case. — Pittsburgh  Gazette- 
Times. 


One  step  further  brings  us  to  the  entire  exclusion 
of  the  result  of  the  interview  from  the  lead.  In  this 
case  the  reason  for  the  interview  occupies  the  en- 
tire lead  and  we  must  read  part  of  the  second  para- 
graph to  find  what  the  man  said ;  thus : 

Charles  F.  Washburn,  Richmond 
Hill's  wizard  of  finance,  promises  to 
appear  at  his  broker's  office  in  Newark, 
N.  J.,  this  morning  with  a  fresh  bank 
roll,  accumulated  since  the  close  of  the 
market  on  Saturday. 

(The  second  paragraph  tells  what  it 
is  all  about  and  the  third  quotes  his 
words.)—  New  York  World. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  in  each  of  the  above  leads 
the  speaker's  name  is  always  accompanied  by  a 
word  or  two  telling  who  he  is  and  why  he  was  in- 
terviewed. Furthermore  the  reporter  himself  has 
no  more  place  in  the  lead  than  if  he  were  reporting 
a  speech — his  existence  and  the  part  he  played  in 
getting  the  interview  are  strictly  ignored, 

181 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

2.  Summary  Beginning. — There  are  two  common 
ways  of  beginning  an  interview  story  with  a  sum- 
mary. First,  the  lead  may  begin  with  a  thai-clause 
which  embodies  the  gist  of  the  interview;  this  is 
like  the  that-dause  beginning  of  the  report  of  a 
speech;  thus: 


That  the  apparent  apathy  among  the 
voters  of  the  country  is  merely  content- 
ment with  the  present  administration  of 
affairs  by  the  Republican  party  is  the 
contention  of  ex-Senator  John  M. 
Thurston  of  Nebraska.  Mr.  Thurston 
was  at  Republican  national  headquarters 
today,  etc. — New  York  Evening  Post. 


Secondly  the  summary  beginning  is  used  in  the 
case  of  an  interview  that  is  a  denial  or  an  assertion 
by  the  man  interviewed.  The  lead  begins  with  a 
clause  or  a  participial  phrase  embodying  the  sub- 
stance of  the  interview,  and  the  name  of  the  speaker 
is  made  the  subject  of  a  verb  of  denying  or  assert- 
ing ;  thus : 


Declaring  that  his  office  is  run  as  eco- 
nomically as  possible,  Sheriff  H.  E. 
Franke  denied  on  Sunday  that  he  had 
expended  more  than  $688  for  auto  hire 
to  collect  $1,409.28  of  alleged  taxes. 

(The  second  paragraph  begins  with  a 
direct  quotation.) — Milwaukee  Sentinel. 

182 


INTERVIEWS 


Although  he  had  sharply  criticised 
Roosevelt's  special  message  condemning 
some  of  the  uses  to  which  the  posses- 
sors of  large  fortunes  are  putting  their 
wealth,  President  Jacob  Gould  Schur- 
man,  Cornell  University,  declined  to  dis- 
cuss Roosevelt  or  his  policies  in  Mil- 
waukee yesterday.  He  said  that  he  was 
not  talking  politics. 

(The  rest  of  the  report  is  a  quotation 
of  his  views  on  college  athletics.) — Mil- 
waukee Free  Press. 


3.  Quotation  Beginning. — Many  reports  of  inter- 
views begin  with  a  direct  quotation.  The  logic  of 
this  is  that  the  expression  of  opinion  is,  in  some 
cases,  of  more  interest  than  the  name  of  the  man 
who  expressed  the  opinion.  Sometimes  the  name 
of  the  speaker  is  not  considered  worth  mentioning 
and  in  that  case  a  direct  quotation  is  the  only  ad- 
visable beginning ;  thus : 

"With  the  prices  of  food  for  hogs 
and  cattle  going  up,  it  is  natural  that 
the  food — beef  and  pork — for  us  humans 
should  keep  pace." 

This  was  the  logic  of  an  east-side 
butcher  who  discussed  the  probable  rise 
in  the  prices  of  meat. — Milwaukee  Free 
Press. 

Sometimes  a  short  quotation  is  used  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  lead  very  much  as  a  title  is  used  in  a 
speech  report;  thus: 

183 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

NEW  YORK,  June  i.— "A  business 
proposition  which  should  have  been  put 
in  effect  nearly  twenty  years  ago,"  was 
John  Wanamaker's  comment  today  on 
the  adoption  of  2-cent  letter  postage  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland. — Milwaukee  Free 
Press. 


If  the  quotation  at  the  beginning  consists  of  only 
one  sentence  the  name  of  the  speaker  may  be  run 
into  the  same  paragraph ;  thus : 

"Judge  McPherson's  recent  decision 
declaring  Missouri's  2-cent  fare  confis- 
catory  is  an  indication  that  vested  in- 
terests are  entitled  to  some  protection 
and  that  legislatures  must  not  go  too  far 
in  regulating  them,"  said  Sir  Thomas 
Shaughnessy,  president  of  the  Canadian 
Pacific  road,  on  Sunday. — Milwaukee 
Sentinel. 

However  if  the  quotation  at  the  beginning  con- 
tains more  than  one  sentence  it  is  best  to  paragraph 
the  quotation  separately  and  leave  the  name  of  the 
speaker  until  the  second  paragraph;  thus: 

"The  American  Federation  of  Labor 
will  enter  the  national  campaign  by 
seeking  to  place  labor  candidates  on  the 
tickets  of  the  old  parties.  An  indepen- 
dent labor  party  is  eventually  contem- 
plated. But  there  is  not  time  to  get 


INTERVIEWS 


results  in  that  way  in  the  next  national 
campaign." 

So  said  H.  C.  Raasch,  national  presi- 
dent of  the  tile-layers,  upon  his  return 
yesterday,  etc. — Milwaukee  Free  Press. 


4.  Human  Interest  Beginning. — This  is  a  designa- 
tion devised  to  cover  a  multitude  of  beginnings.  A 
human  interest  interview  may  begin  with  a  quota- 
tion, a  summary,  a  name,  or  an  action.  The  aim  is 
necessarily  toward  unconventionality  and  the  form 
of  the  lead  is  left  to  the  originality  of  the  reporter. 
A  few  examples  may  illustrate  what  is  meant  by  the 
human  interest  beginning: 

"There  goes  another  string.  Drat 
those  strings!"  Only  Joseph  Caluder 
didn't  say  "Drat." 

"Say,  do  you  know  that  I  have  spent 
pretty  nearly  $1,000  for  strings  for  that 
violin?  Well,  it's  a  fact.  Listen."  Etc. 
— Milwaukee  Sentinel. 


Fire  Marshal  James  Horan  never 
bought  a  firecracker,  but  for  many  years 
he  has  celebrated  Independence  day  in 
the  thick  of  fires.  He  never  owned  a 
gun  or  revolver.  His  last  prayer  be- 
fore trying  to  snatch  a  little  needed 
sleep  Friday  night  will  be  of  the  twofold 
form,  etc. — Chicago  Post. 


After  what  has  been  said  about  the  body  of  a 
speech  report,  there  is  little  more  to  be  said  about 

185 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

the  body  of  an  interview  story.  The  same  rules 
apply  in  both  cases.  The  body  of  the  report  should 
contain  as  much  direct  quotation  as  possible.  How- 
ever nothing  less  than  a  sentence  should  be  quoted 
— that  is,  every  quotation  should  be  a  complete  sen- 
tence, with  indirect  explanation.  Whenever  "Said 
the  speaker"  or  "Mr.  Brown  continued"  or  any  sim- 
ilar expression  is  worked  into  the  direct  quotation 
it  should  always  be  placed  at  the  end  of  the  sentence ; 
never  begin  a  quotation  in  this  way : — Mr.  Jones 
continued,  "Furthermore  I  would  say,  etc."  In 
the  same  way,  when  a  paragraph  contains  both  di- 
rect and  indirect  quotation,  the  direct  quotation 
should  be  placed  at  the  beginning.  Whenever  it  is 
possible,  construct  solid  paragraphs  of  quotation, 
and  solid  paragraphs  of  summary.  The  report  as  a 
whole  must  have  coherence  and  a  logical  sequence; 
for  this  a  limited  amount  of  indirect  quotation  may 
be  used  to  fill  in  the  gaps  in  the  logic  of  the  direct 
quotation. 

According  to  the  usage  of  the  best  newspapers  of 
to-day  the  reporter  must  never  be  brought  into  the 
report  of  an  interview.  His  existence  must  never 
be  mentioned  although  every  reader  knows  that  some 
reporter  secured  the  interview.  In  the  old  days 
reporters  delighted  in  bringing  themselves  into  their 
stories  as  "representatives  of  the  press"  or  "a  re- 

186 


INTERVIEWS 

porter  for  the  Dispatch,"  but  that  practice  has  gone 
the  way  of  the  reporter's  leather-bound  notebook. 
The  interview  may  be  told  satisfactorily  without 
a  mention  of  the  reporter;  hence  newspaper  usage 
has  put  a  ban  on  his  appearance  in  his  story. 

GROUP   INTERVIEWS 

We  have  said  that  a  man  is  seldom  interviewed 
without  a  reason;  there  is  always  a  timeliness  in  in- 
terviewing. Any  unusual  event  of  broad  importance 
becomes  an  excuse  for  the  editor  to  print  the  opin- 
ion of  some  prominent  man  on  some  phase  of  the 
event.  Sometimes  the  event  is  of  such  importance 
that  the  editor  wishes  to  print  the  opinions  of  sev- 
eral men  on  the  subject;  or  more  than  one  prominent 
man  may  be  involved  in  the  affair  and  the  public 
may  wish  to  hear  the  opinions  of  every  one  involved. 
In  such  a  case  when  several  men  are  interviewed  in 
regard  to  the  same  event  it  is  considered  rather  use- 
less and  ineffective  to  print  their  interviews  sepa- 
rately and  the  several  interview  stories  are  gath- 
ered together  into  one  story  and  arranged  in  such 
a  way  that  they  may  be  compared.  There  are  sev- 
eral ways  of  doing  this. 

If  the  case  or  event  is  very  well  known,  a  lead  or 
summary  of  the  several  interviews  is  considered  un- 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

necessary  and  the  words  of  the  various  men  are 
grouped  together  under  a  single  headline.  This  may 
be  illustrated  by  the  interviews  that  were  printed 
after  the  confessions  of  the  McNamara  brothers  of 
Los  Angeles  in  the  recent  dynamiting  case.  The 
Wisconsin  State  Journal  may  be  taken  as  repre- 
sentative. This  paper  printed  the  statements  of 
twelve  prominent  men  interested  in  the  case  in  a 
three-column  box  under  a  long  head ;  thus : 

Leaders   Discuss  the  Case 

Samuel  Gompers,  president  American  Federation  of 
Labor — I  am  astounded ;  I  am  astounded ; '  my  credul- 
ity has  been  imposed  upon.  It  is  a  bolt  out  of  a  clear 
sky. 


John  T.  Smith,  president  Missouri  Federation  of  La- 
bor— I  can  not  believe  it.  But  if  the  McNamaras 
blew  up  the  Times  building  they  should  be  fully  pun- 
ished. 

Gen.  Harrison  Grey  Otis,  publisher  of  the  Times — 
The  result  may  be  and  ought  to  be,  etc. 


If  the  case  had  not  been  of  such  broad  interest  a 
lead  embodying  a  summary  of  the  interviews  might 
have  preceded  the  individual  statements.  It  might 
have  been  done  in  this  way : 

Great  surprise  has  been  expressed  by 
the  prominent  labor  leaders  of  the  coun- 
try at  the  confession  of  the  McNamara 

188 


INTERVIEWS 

brothers  in  Los  Angeles  yesterday.  That 
organized  labor  had  no  connection  with 
the  work  of  these  men  and  that  they 
should  be  fully  punished  is  the  consen- 
sus of  opinion. 

Samuel  Gompers,  president  American 
Federation  of  Labor — I  am  astounded ; 
I  am  astounded;  my  credulity  has  been 
imposed  upon.  It  is  a  bolt  out  of  a 
clear  sky. 

John  T.  Smith,  president  Missouri 
Federation  of  Labor — I  can  not  believe 
it.  Etc. 


In  such  a  story  as  the  above,  the  statements  are  usu- 
ally printed  without  quotation  marks;  each  para- 
graph begins  with  a  man's  name,  followed  by  a  dash 
and  what  he  said.  The  grouping  together  of  sev- 
eral interviews  is  often  done  less  formally.  The 
whole  thing  may  be  written  as  a  running  story,  and 
sometimes  the  names  of  the  persons  interviewed 
are  omitted;  thus: 

Proprietors  of  the  big  flower  shops, 
the  places  from  which  blossoms  are  de- 
livered in  highly  polished  and  ornate 
wagons,  drawn  by  horses  that  might 
win  blue  ribbons,  and  where,  in  the 
proper  season,  a  single  rose  costs  three 
dollars,  do  not  approve  of  the  com- 
ments made  by  a  dealer  who  recently 
failed.  Among  these  sayings  was  one 
to  the  effect  that  young  millionaires 
spend  a  thousand  dollars  a  week  on 

189 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 


flowers  for  chorus  girls  who  earn 
twelve  dollars  a  week,  and  who  some- 
times take  the  flowers  back  to  the  shop 
to  exchange  them  for  money  to  buy 
food  and  clothes. 

"That's  all  nonsense,"  said  one  dealer. 
(This  paragraph  is  devoted  to  his  opin- 
ion on  the  matter.) 

"We  have  enough  trouble  in  this  busi- 
ness," said  another  dealer,  "without  hav- 
ing this  silly  talk  given  to  the  public." 
(This  paragraph  gives  this  dealer's 
opinion) — New  York  Evening  Post. 

(Each  paragraph  is  devoted  to  a  single  inter- 
view. ) 

The  same  paragraph  may  be  done  with  more  local 
color  as  in  the  following: 


Chinatown  feels  deeply  its  bereave- 
ment in  the  deaths  of  the  Empress  Dow- 
ager and  the  Emperor  of  China.  China- 
town mourns,  but  it  does  so  in  such  an 
unobtrusive  Oriental  way  that  the  casual 
visitor  on  sympathy  bent  may  feel  that 
his  words  of  condolence  would  be  mis- 
placed. 

A  reporter  from  this  paper  was  as- 
signed yesterday  to  go  up  to  Chinatown 
and  in  as  delicate  a  way  as  possible  to 
gather  some  of  the  sentiments  of  appre- 
ciation of  the  merits  of  Kuang-hsu  and 
his  lamented  aunt,  Tzu-hsi.  He  was 
told  that  he  might  write  a  little  about 
the  picturesque  though  nevertheless  sin- 
cere expressions  of  mourning  that  he 

IQO 


INTERVIEWS 

might  observe  in  Pell  and  Mott  streets. 

Mr.  Jaw  Gum,  senior  partner  in  the 
firm  of  Jaw  Gum  &  Co.,  importers  of 
cigars,  cigarettes,  dead  duck's  eggs  and 
Chinese  delicatessen,  of  7  Pell  street, 
was  at  home.  Mr.  Gum  was  approached. 

"We  would  like  to  learn  a  little  about 
the  arrangements  that  are  being  made 
by  the  Chinese  to  indicate  their  sorrow 
at  the  deaths  of  their  beloved  rulers." 

"What  number?"  queried  Mr.  Gum. 
The  question  was  repeated. 

"P'licyman,  he  know/'  remarked  Mr. 
Gum  sagely. 

(So  on  for  a  column  with  interviews 
and  statements  from  several  of  Mr. 
Gum's  neighbors.) — New  York  Sun. 


But  this  is  very  much  like  a  human  interest  story — 
the  reporter  takes  part  in  it — and  we  shall  discuss 
that  later. 


XII 
COURT   REPORTING 

Probably  few  classes  of  news  stories  present  such 
a  lack  of  uniformity  and  such  a  variety  of  treat- 
ments as  the  reports  of  court  news.  Legal  stories 
belong  to  one  of  the  few  sorts  of  stories  that  do  not 
tend  to  become  systematized.  But  there  is  a  reason 
for  almost  everything  in  a  newspaper  and  there  is 
also  a  reason  for  the  freedom  that  reporters  are 
allowed  in  reporting  testimony.  The  reason  in  this 
case  is  probably  in  the  fact  that  very  rarely  do  two 
court  stories  possess  the  same  sort  of  interest  or  the 
same  news  value. 

We  have  seen  that  reports  of  speeches  are  printed 
in  the  daily  press  because  our  readers  are  interested 
in  the  content  of  the  speech  or  in  the  man  who  ut- 
tered it.  In  the  same  way,  our  readers  are  inter- 
ested in  interviews  because  of  the  man  who  was  in- 
terviewed, because  of  their  content,  or  because  of 
their  bearing  on  some  current  event.  On  the  other 
hand  there  is  an  infinite  number  of  reasons  why  a 
court  story  is  worth  printing  or  why  it  may  not  be 

192 


COURT   REPORTING 

worth  a  line.  Sometimes  the  interest  is  in  the  per- 
sons involved;  sometimes  in  the  significance  of  the 
decision.  People  may  also  be  interested  in  a  case 
because  of  its  political  or  legal  significance  or  merely 
because  of  the  sensational  testimony  that  is  given. 
And  again  a  very  trivial  case  may  be  worth  a  large 
amount  of  space  in  the  daily  paper  just  because  of 
its  human  interest — because  of  the  pathos  or  humor 
that  the  reporter  can  bring  into  it.  Thus  the  re- 
sulting reports  are  hard  to  classify.  Each  one  de- 
pends on  a  different  factor  for  its  interest  and  each 
must  be  written  in  a  different  way  so  that  its  indi- 
vidual interest  may  be  most  effective.  However 
there  are  general  tendencies  in  the  reporting  of  court 
news. 

The  news  itself  is  comparatively  easy  to  get.  In 
a  large  city  every  court  is  watched  every  day  by  a 
representative  of  the  press,  either  a  reporter  for  an 
individual  paper  or  for  a  city  news  gathering  asso- 
ciation. In  some  cities  where  there  is  no  independ- 
ent news  gathering  agency  papers  sometimes  club 
together  to  keep  one  reporter  at  each  court.  The 
man  who  is  on  duty  must  watch  all  day  long  for 
cases  that  are  of  interest  for  one  reason  or  an- 
other. Even  with  all  this  safeguarding  sometimes 
an  important  case  slips  by  the  papers;  often  the  re- 
porter on  duty  considers  of  little  interest  a  case  that 

193 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

is  worth  columns  when  some  paper  digs  into  it. 
Every  reporter  however  who  is  trying  to  do  court 
reporting  should  learn  the  ordinary  routine  of  legal 
proceedings ;  for  example,  the  place  and  purpose  of 
the  pleas,  the  direct  and  cross  examination  of  wit- 
nesses, and  other  legal  business. 

As  we  shall  see  when  we  begin  to  write  court  re- 
ports, it  is  necessary  to  exercise  every  possible  trick 
to  put  interest  into  the  story.  In  the  actual  court 
room  all  that  relieves  the  dreary  monotony  of  legal 
proceedings  is  an  occasional  bit  of  interesting  testi- 
mony. And  when  the  reporter  tries  to  report  a  case 
he  sometimes  finds  that  interesting  testimony  is  all 
that  will  lighten  up  the  dull  monotony  of  his  story. 
Therefore  while  he  is  listening  to  a  case  he  tries  to 
get  down  verbatim  a  large  number  of  the  inter- 
esting questions  and  answers.  Or  if  he  is  unable 
to  be  present  he  tries  to  get  hold  of  the  court  ste- 
nographer's record  to  copy  out  bits  of  testimony  for 
his  account.  Beyond  this  recording  of  testimony 
there  is  really  little  difficulty  in  court  reporting  ex- 
cept the  difficulty  of  separating  the  interesting  from 
the  great  mass  of  uninteresting  matter. 

As  to  the  actual  writing  of  the  report  of  a  legal 
trial,  the  one  thing  that  the  reporter  must  remember 
is  that  a  case  is  seldom  reported  for  the  public's  in- 
terest in  the  case  itself.  There  is  usually  some  other 

194 


COURT    REPORTING 


reason  why  the  editor  wants  a  half  a  column  of  it. 
That  reason  is  the  thing  that  the  reporter  must 
watch  for  and  when  he  finds  it  he  must  make  it  the 
feature  of  his  repo'rt  to  be  embodied  in  the  first  line 
of  the  lead. 

When  we  try  to  play  up  the  most  interesting  fea- 
ture of  a  court  report  we  find  that  we  must  fall 
back  upon  the  same  beginnings  that  we  used  in  re- 
porting speeches  and  interviews.  There  are  several 
possible  ways  of  beginning  such  a  story,  depending 
upon  the  phase  of  the  case  or  its  testimony  that  is 
of  greatest  importance. 

1.  Name  Beginning. — The  proper  name  beginning 
is  very  common.  It  is  always  used  when  any  one 
of  prominence  is  involved  in  the  story  or  when  the 
name,  although  unknown,  can  be  made  interesting 
in  itself — as  in  a  human  interest  story.  The  name  is 
usually  made  the  subject  of  the  verb  testified,  as  in 

this  lead : 

A.  F.  Law,  secretary  'of  the  Temple 
Iron  Company,  a  subsidiary  company 
of  the  Reading  Coal  and  Iron  Com- 
pany, called  before  the  government  in- 
vestigation of  the  alleged  combination 
of  coal  carrying  roads,  testified  today 
in  the  Federal  building  that  four  roads 
had  contributed  $488,000  to  make  up  the 
deficit  of  the  Temple  company  during 
three  years  of  coal  strikes. — New  York 


Sun. 
14 


195 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 


The  name  of  a  well-known  company  often  makes  a 
good  beginning : 


The  Standard  Oil  Company  sent  a 
sweeping  broadside  into  the  Govern- 
ment's case  yesterday  at  the  hearing  in 
the  suit  seeking  to  dissolve  the  Standard 
Oil  Company  of  New  Jersey  under  the 
Sherman  anti-trust  law,  when  witnesses 
began  to  tell  of  the  character  of  a  num- 
ber of  men  the  Government  had  placed 
upon  the  witness  stand. — New  York 
Times. 


The  name  of  the  judge  himself  may  be  used  in  the 
first  line : 


Judge  Mulqueen  of  General  Sessions 
explained  today  why  he  had  sentenced 
two  prisoners  to  "go  home  and  serve 
time  with  the  families."  This  punish- 
ment was  imposed  yesterday  when  both 
men  pleaded  drunkenness  as  their  ex- 
cuse for  trivial  offenses. — New  York 
Evening  Post. 


2.  Continued  Case  Beginning Many  court  re- 
ports begin  with  the  name  of  the  case  when  the  case 
has  been  running  for  some  time  and  is  well  known. 
Each  individual  story  on  such  a  case  is  just  a  con- 
tinuation of  a  sort  of  serial  story  that  has  been  run- 
ning for  some  time  and  in  the  lead  each  day  the  re- 
porter tries  to  summarize  the  progress  that  has  been 


COURT   REPORTING 


made  in  the  case  during  the  day's  hearing.  How- 
ever each  story,  like  a  follow-up  story,  is  written  in 
such  a  way  that  a  knowledge  of  previous  stories  is 
not  necessary  to  a  clear  understanding : 

The  hearing  yesterday  in  the  Govern- 
ment's suit  to  dissolve  the  Standard 
Oil  Company  ended  with  a  dramatic  in- 
cident. Mr.  Kellogg  sought  to  show 
that  the  Standard  compelled  a  widow, 
Mrs.  Jones,  of  Mobile,  Ala.,  to  sell  out 
her  little  oil  business  at  a  ruinous  sacri- 
fice.— New  York  World. 

In  some  cases  this  sort  of  a  lead  begins  with  the 
mere  mention  of  the  continuing  of  the  trial: 

At  the  opening  of  the  defence  today 
in  the  sugar  trials  before  Judge  Martin 
of  the  United  States  Circuit  Court, 
James  F.  Bendernagal  took  the  witness 
chair  in  his  own  behalf,  etc. — New  York 
Evening  Post. 

3.  Summary  Beginning. — The  lead  of  a  court  re- 
port often  begins  with  a  brief  summary  of  the  result 
of  the  trial  or  of  the  day's  hearing : 

What  the  Government  has  character- 
ized as  "unfair  competition  and  dis- 
crimination" on  the  part  of  the  Stand- 
ard Oil  Company  continued  to  be  the 
subject  of  the  investigation  of  that  cor- 
poration today  before  Franklin  Ferris 
of  St.  Louis,  referee,  in  the  Custom 
House. — New  York  Evening  Post. 

197 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

The  summary  may  be  presented  in  as  formal  a  way 
as  the  t hat-clause  beginning  which  we  used  in  re- 
ports of  speeches : 

That  the  Adams'  Express  Company's 
business  in  New  England  in  1909  yield- 
ed a  profit  representing  45  per  cent,  on 
the  investment,  including  real  estate 
and,  excepting  real  estate,  a  net  income 
of  more  than  83  per  cent.,  came  out  in 
the  course  of  the  hearing  before  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  etc. — 
New  York  Evening  Post. 

4.  Direct  Quotation  Beginning. — A    direct    quota- 
lion  of  some  striking  statement  made  by  the  judge, 
by  a  lawyer,  by  a  witness,  or  by  any  one  connected 
with  the  trial  may  be  used  at  the  beginning  of  the 
lead.     Here   is  a  lead  beginning  with  a  quotation 
from  the  title  of  a  case : 

"Captain  Dick  and  Captain  Lewis,  In- 
dians, for  and  on  behalf  of  the  Yokayo 
tribe  of  Indians,  vs.  F.  C.  Albertson,  T. 
J.  Weldon,  as  administrator  of  the  es- 
tate of  Charley,  Indian,  deceased,  Min- 
nehaha,  Ollagoola,  Hiawatha,  Wana- 
hana,  Pocahontas,  etc." 

So  runs  the  title  of  as  unusual  a  case 
as  jurists,  etc. — San  Francisco  Exam- 
iner. 

5.  Human  Interest  Beginning. — The  human  inter- 
est beginning  is  a  more  or  less  free  beginning  which 

198 


COURT   REPORTING 


may  be  used  in  the  reporting  of  rather  insignificant 
cases  which  are  of  value  only  for  the  human  inter- 
est in  them.  The  beginning  is  capable  of  almost 
any  treatment  so  long  as  it  brings  out  the  humor, 
beauty,  or  pathos  of  the  situation.  Sometimes  the 
story  begins  with  a  rather  striking  summary  of  the 
unusual  things  that  came  out  in  the  testimony,  as 
in  this  case : 


How  suddenly  and  how  radically  a 
woman  can  exercise  her  inalienable  pre- 
rogative and  change  her  mind  is  shown 
in  the  testamentary  disposition  made  of 
her  estate  by  Mrs.  Jennie  L.  Ramsay. 
She  made  a  will  on  July  4  last,  at  3 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  leaving  her 
property  to  her  husband,  and  at  7  o'clock 
in  the  evening  of  the  same  day  she 
made  another  will  in  which  she  took 
the  property  away  from  her  husband. — 
New  York  Times. 


Here  is  an  interesting  illustration  of  the  use  of  a 
trivial  incident  as  the  basis  for  a  humorous  lead :    . 

Bang,  an  English  setter  dog,  accused 
of  biting  n-year-old  Sophie  Kahn,  made 
an  excellent  witness  in  the  City  Court 
today  when  his  owner,  Hirman  L. 
Phelps,  a  real  estate  dealer  of  the 
Bronx,  appeared  as  defendant  in  a  dam- 
age suit  brought  by  the  girl  for  $2,000. 
— New  York  Evening  Post. 
The  lead  of  a  report  of  legal  proceedings  is  very 

199 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

much  like  the  lead  of  a  report  of  a  speech  or  an 
interview.  It  always  begins  with  the  most  interest- 
ing fact  in  the  case  and  briefly  summarizes  the  re- 
sult of  the  trial  or  the  day's  hearing.  It  is  to  be  noted 
that  the  lead  of  such  a  story  always  includes  a  des- 
ignation of  the  court  in  which  the  hearing  was  held 
and  usually  the  name  of  the  judge  and  of  the  case. 
After  the  lead  is  finished  a  court  report  usually 
turns  into  a  running  story  of  the  evidence  as  it 
was  presented.  This  may  be  condensed  into  a  para- 
graph, giving  the  reader  merely  the  point  of  the 
day's  hearing,  or  it  may  be  expanded  into  several 
columns  following  the  testimony  more  or  less  closely. 
In  form,  it  is  very  much  like  the  summary  para- 
graphs in  the  body  of  a  speech  report.  The  result 
is  usually  more  or  less  dry  and  reporters  often  re- 
sort to  a  means,  similar  to  dialogue  in  fiction,  to 
lighten  it  up.  Some  of  the  more  important  testi- 
mony is  given  verbatim  interspersed  with  indirect 
summaries  of  the  longer  or  less  important  speeches. 
Its  presentation  usually  follows  the  ordinary  rules 
of  dialogue.  Here  is  an  extract  from  such  a  story: 


After  describing  himself  as  a  breeder 
of  horses,  Gideon  said  that  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Metropolitan  Turf  Asso- 
ciation, the  bookmakers'  organization, 
but  had  never  been  engaged  in  book- 
200 


COURT   REPORTING 

making.  He  did  not  know  where  "Ed- 
die" Burke,  "Tim"  Sullivan  (not  the 
politician),  or  any  of  the  other  missing 
"bookies"  could  be  found. 

"You  are  a  member  of  the  executive 
committee  of  the  Metropolitan  Turf 
Association?"  asked  Isidor  J.  Kresel, 
assistant  counsel  of  the  committee. 

"Yes." 

"Now,  what  did  your  committee  do 
in  1908,  when  the  anti-race  track  legis- 
lation was  pending?" 

"I  don't  know." 

*      *      *      * 

"How  much  did  you  pay  in  1908?" 

"Two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars."        x 

"To  whom?" 

"Mr.  Sullivan." 

"What   for?" 

"Death  assessments." 

Gideon  said  that  the  little  he  knew  of 
the  doings  of  the  "Mets"  was  from  con- 
versation with  the  bookies.  Etc.,  etc. — 
New  York  Evening  Post. 

Sometimes  this  direct  testimony  is  given,  not  in  the 
dialogue  form,  but  as  questions  and  answers.    Thus : 

In  reply  to  other  questions,  Bender- 
nagel  said  he  ordered  the  office  supplies, 
looked  after  the  insurance  on  the  sugar, 
and  was  responsible  for  the  fuel,  some 
700  tons  of  coal  a  day. 

Question. — How  much  money  was 
paid  through  your  office  in  the  course 
of  a  year?  Answer. — Four  million  dol- 
lars. 

2OI 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 


Q.— So  yours  was  a  busy  office?  A. — 
Exceedingly  so. 

Q. — How  long  were  the  raw  sugar 
clerks  in  your  office?  A. — About  twenty 
years.  Etc.,  etc. — New  York  Evening 
Post. 


Some  papers  would  arrange  these  questions  and  an- 
swers differently,  paragraphing  each  speech  sepa- 
rately as  in  dialogue : 

Question. — Did  you  regulate  their  du- 
ties in  any  way? 

Answer. — No. 

Q. — Were  you  connected  with  the 
docks? 

A. — No ;  that  was  a  separate  depart- 
ment. It  had  its  own  forces,  and  they 
worked  under  Mr.  Spitzer.  He  had  en- 
tire charge.  Etc.,  etc. 

The  court  records  take  cognizance  only  of  the  actual 
words  uttered  in  the  testimony,  but  a  newspaper  re- 
porter never  fails  to  record  any  action  or  movement 
that  indicates  something  beyond  the  words.  Very 
often  action  is  brought  in  merely  for  its  human  in- 
terest; thus: 

"How  long  has  it  been  since  you  have 
had  a  maid?"  asked  Mr.  Shearn  sadly. 

"Not  for  some  time,"  she  said.  "Away 
back  in  1907,  I  think." 

"What  did  it  cost  you  for  two  rooms 
and  bath  at  the  Hotel  Belmont,  where 
you  lived  last  year?" 

202 


COURT   REPORTING 

"About  $300  a  week  altogether.  The 
rooms  cost  $20  a  day." 

There  were  tears  in  her  eyes  when 
she  explained  that  she  could  no  longer 
afford  to  keep  up  her  own  automobile. 
Etc.,  etc. — Milwaukee  Free  Press. 


This  sort  of  dialogue  is  dangerous  and  may  easily 
be  overworked,  but  it  is  very  often  extremely  ef- 
fective. One  word  like  "sadly,"  above,  may  convey 
more  meaning  than  many  lines  of  explanation. 

These  quotations  are  usually  interspersed  with 
paragraphs  which  summarize  the  unimportant  inter- 
vening testimony.  The  running  story  attempts  to 
follow  the  progress  of  the  hearing  in  greater  or  less 
detail,  depending  upon  the  space  given  to  the  story, 
just  as  a  speech  report  attempts  to  follow  a  public 
discourse.  Dry  and  unimportant  facts  are  briefly 
summarized,  interesting  parts  of  the  testimony  are 
quoted  in- full.  The  running  story  is  usually  writ- 
ten while  the  hearing  is  in  session  or  taken  from  a 
stenographic  report  of  the  hearing.  After  the  run- 
ning story  has  been  completed,  the  reporter  pre- 
pares a  lead  for  the  beginning  to  summarize  the 
results  or  to  play  up  the  most  significant  part  of 
the  story.  If  the  running  story  is  short  a  lead  of 
one  paragraph  is  sufficient,  but  if  it  is  long,  the 
lead  may  be  expanded  into  several  paragraphs. 

203 


XIII 
SOCIAL   NEWS   AND   OBITUARIES 

The  study  of  newspaper  treatment  of  social  news 
is  a  broad  one.  Every  newspaper  has  its  own  sys- 
tem of  handling  social  news  and  the  general  ten- 
dencies that  are  to  be  noted  deal  rather  with  the 
facts  that  are  printed  than  with  the  manner  of 
treatment.  Every  newspaper  gives  practically  the 
same  facts  about  a  wedding  but  each  individual  news- 
paper has  a  method  of  its  own  of  writing  up  those 
facts.  One  thing  that  is  always  true  of  social  news 
reporting  is  that  the  amount  of  space  given  to  social 
items  varies  inversely  with  the  importance  of  the 
newspaper  and  the  size  of  the  city  in  which  it  is 
printed.  A  little  country  weekly  or  semi-weekly 
in  a  small  town  does  not  hesitate  to  run  two  columns 
or  more  on  Sadie  Smith's  wedding.  The  report 
runs  into  minute  details  and  anecdotes  that  all  of 
the  "Weekly's"  readers  know  before  the  paper  ar- 
rives. But  the  editor  prints  everything  he  can  find 
or  invent  simply  because  all  of  his  readers  are  more 

204 


SOCIAL   NEWS   AND    OBITUARIES 

or  less  personally  connected  with  the  affair  and  are 
anxious  to  see  their  names  in  print  and  to  read 
about  themselves.  The  liberty  that  such  an  editor 
gives  himself  is  of  course  impossible  in  a  larger 
paper. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  daily  in  a  city  of  average 
size  would  reduce  such  a  story  to  a  stickful  and  a 
metropolitan  daily  would  run  only  a  one-line  an- 
nouncement in  the  "List  of  marriages,"  unless  the 
story  was  especially  interesting.  The  same  thing 
applies  to  all  social  stories.  Some  metropolitan 
newspapers  do  not  run  social  news  at  all. 

All  of  this  is  true  because  social  news  is  gov- 
erned by  the  same  principles  that  regulate  all  news 
values.  Unless  a  society  event  has  some  feature 
that  is  interesting  impersonally — that  is,  of  interest 
to  readers  who  do  not  know  the  principals  of  the 
event — it  is  of  value  only  as  a  larger  or  smaller  num- 
ber of  the  paper's  readers  are  personally  connected 
with  the  event.  Hence  in  a  small  town  where  every 
one  knows  every  one  else,  society  news  is  of  great 
value.  In  a  large  city  a  very  small  proportion  of 
the  readers  are  connected  with  the  social  items  that 
the  paper  has  to  print  and  are  therefore  not  inter- 
ested in  them — accordingly  the  newspaper  either 
cuts  them  down  to  a  minimum  of  space  or  does  not 
run  them  at  all. 

205 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

Therefore  in  our  study  society  news  falls  into  two 
classes:  social  items  that  are  of  interest  only  in 
themselves  to  persons  connected  with  the  events; 
and  big  society  stories  or  unusual  social  events  that 
are  of  interest  to  readers  who  are  not  acquainted 
with  the  principals. 

1.  Weddings. — The  wedding  story  reduced  to  its 
lowest  terms  in  a  metropolitan  paper  consists  of  a 
one-line  announcement  in  the  list 'of  "Marriages" 
or  "Marriage  Licenses"  ;  thus  : 

SMITH-JONES— Feb.  14,  Katharine 
Jones  to  Charles  C.  Smith. — New  York 
Times. 

If  the  paper  runs  a  few  columns  of  social  news 
and  the  persons  concerned  in  the  wedding  are  of  any 
importance  socially,  the  wedding  may  be  given  a 
stickful.  Such  an  account  would  confine  itself  en- 
tirely to  names  and  facts  and  would  be  characterized 
by  very  decided  simplicity  and  brevity.  Usually 
nothing  more  would  be  given  than  the  names  and 
address  of  the  bride's  parents,  the  bride's  first  name, 
the  groom's  name,  the  place,  and  the  name  of  the 
minister  who  officiated.  Occasionally  the  name  of 
the  best  man  and  a  few  other  details  are  added,  but 
never  does  the  story  become  personal.  It  is  inter- 
esting only  to  those  who  know  or  know  of  the  per- 
sons concerned. 

206 


SOCIAL  .NEWS   AND    OBITUARIES 
For  example : 

SMITH-JONES 

The  marriage  of  Miss  Katherine  M. 
Jones,  elder  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Randolph  Jones,  253  Ninth  street,  and 
Charles  C.  Smith  was  celebrated  at  4 
o'clock  yesterday  afternoon  at  the  First 
Methodist  Church,  736  Grand  avenue. 
Rev.  William  Brown,  rector  of  the 
church,  performed  the  ceremony. 

It  will  be  noted  that  in  the  above  story  the  name  of 
the  bride  is  written  out  in  full,  "Miss  Katherine  M. 
Jones."  Many  newspapers,  however,  would  simply 
give  her  first  name,  thus :  Katherine,  elder  daugh- 
ter of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Randolph  Jones." 

If  the  above  wedding  were  of  greater  importance 
more  details  might  be  given.  These  would  include 
the  attendants,  descriptions  of  the  gowns  of  the 
bride  and  her  attendants,  the  guests  from  out  of 
town,  music,  decorations,  the  reception,  and  perhaps 
some  of  the  presents.  Sometimes  the  wedding  trip 
and  an  announcement  of  when  and  where  the  couple 
will  be  at  home  are  added.  The  above  story  might 
run  on  into  detail  something  like  this : 

Miss  Jones,  who  was  given  in  mar- 
riage by  her  father,  wore  a  white  satin 
gown  trimmed  with  Venetian  point  lace, 
and  her  point  lace  veil,  a  family  heir- 
loom, was  caught  with  orange  blossoms. 

207 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 


She  carried  a  bouquet  of  white  sweet 
peas  and  lilies  of  the  valley.  Miss  Do- 
rothy Jones,  a  sister  of  the  bride,  who 
was  maid  of  honor,  wore  a  gown  of 
green  chiffon  over  satin,  with  lingerie 
hat,  and  carried  sweet  peas.  Douglas 
Jackson  was  the  best  man  and  the 
ushers  were  Dr.  John  B.  Smith,  Samuel 
Smith,  Gordon  Hunt,  Rodney  Dexter, 
Norris  Kenny,  and  Arthur  Johnston.  A 
reception  followed  the  ceremony  at  the 
home  of  the  bride's  parents. 


This  is  probably  as  long  a  story  as  any  average 
paper  would  run  on  any  wedding,  unless  the  wed- 
ding had  some  striking  feature  that  would  make  the 
story  of  interest  to  readers  who  did  not  know  the 
principals.  Note  in  the  foregoing  story  the  sim- 
plicity and  impersonal  tone.  There  is  a  wealth  of 
facts  but  there  is  no  coloring.  This  tone  should 
characterize  every  society  story.  A  list  of  out-of- 
town  guests  might  have  been  added,  but  as  often 
that  would  be  omitted.  In  some  cases  the  last  sen- 
tence might  be  followed  by  an  announcement  like 
this: 

The  bride  and  bridegroom  have  gone 
on  a  wedding  tour  of  the  West ;  after 
April  i  they  will  be  at  home  at  76  Kim- 
bark  avenue. 

In  this  connection  the  young  reporter  should  note 
the  distinctions  in  meaning  of  the  various  words 

208 


SOCIAL   NEWS   AND   OBITUARIES 

used  in  a  wedding  story.  For  instance,  he  should 
consult  the  dictionary  for  the  exact  use  of  the  verbs 
"to  marry"  and  "to  wed" — he  should  know  who  "is 
married,"  who  "is  married  to,"  and  who  "is  given 
in  marriage,"  etc.  He  should  also  know  the  differ- 
ence between  a  "marriage"  and  a  "wedding." 

2.  Wedding  Announcements. — Wedding  announce- 
ments are  run  in  the  social  columns  of  many  papers. 
These  items  contain  practically  the  same  facts  that 
we  find  in  the  story  written  after  the  wedding,  ex- 
cept, of  course,  that  the  reporter  cannot  dilate  on 
decorations,  and  must  stick  to  facts.  These  facts 
usually  consist  of  the  names  of  the  couple,  the  names 
of  the  bride's  parents,  and  the  time  and  the  place  of 
the  wedding.  Additionally  the  reporter  may  give 
the  minister's  name,  the  names  of  the  maid  of  honor 
and  of  the  best  man,  the  reception  or  breakfast  to 
follow,  and  where  the  coilple  will  be  at  home. 

The  wedding  of  Miss  Gladys  Jones 
and  Richard  Smith  will  take  place  on 
Wednesday  evening  in  All  Angels' 
Church  The  bride  is  a  daughter  of 
Mrs.  Charles  Jones,  who  will  give  a 
bridal  supper  and  reception  afterward  at 
her  home. 

There  are  of  course  many  other  ways  to  begin 
the  announcement.  "Miss  Mary  E.  MacGuire, 

209 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

daughter  of,  etc.";  "Invitations  have  been  issued  for 
the  wedding  of  Miss,  etc.";  "One  of  the  weddings 
on  for  Tuesday  is  that  of  Miss,  etc.";  "Cards  are 
out  for  the  wedding  on  Saturday  of  Miss,  etc.";  and 
many  others.  In  each  case  the  bride's  name  has  the 
place  of  importance. 

3.  Announcements  of  Engagements Announce- 
ments of  engagements  are  usually  even  briefer  than 
wedding  announcements.  The  item  consists  merely 
of  one  sentence  in  which  the  young  lady's  mother 
or  parents  make  the  announcement  with  the  name 
of  the  prospective  groom. 

Mrs.  Russell  D.  Jones  of  45  Ninth 
street  announces  the  engagement  of  her 
daughter,  Natalie,  to  John  MacBaine 
Smith. 

The  item  may  also  begin  "Mr.  and  Mrs.  X.  X.  So- 
and-So  announce,  etc.,"  or  simply  "Announcement 
is  made  of  the  engagement  of  Miss  Stella  Blank, 
daughter  of,  etc." 

4.  Receptions  and  Other  Entertainments. — If  a  pa- 
per is  to  keep  up  in  society  news,  it  must  report  many 
social  entertainments.  However,  such  events  are 
treated  by  large  dailies  as  simply,  briefly,  and  im- 
personally as  possible.  Such  a  story,  like  the  report 
of  a  wedding,  consists  merely  of  certain  usual  facts. 
The  name  of  the  host  or  hostess,  the  place,  the  time, 

210 


SOCIAL   NEWS   AND    OBITUARIES 


and  the  special  entertainments  are  of  course  always 
included.  Sometimes  the  occasion  for  the  event, 
the  guests  of  honor,  and  a  description  of  the  decora- 
tions are  added, — also  the  names  of  those  who  as- 
sisted the  hostess. 


Mrs.  James  Harris  Jones  gave  a  re- 
ception yesterday  at  her  home,  136  Fifth 
street,  for  her  daughter,  Miss  Dorothy 
Jones.  In  the  receiving  line  were  Miss 
Marjorie  Smith,  Miss,  etc.  *  *  The  recep- 
tion was  followed  by  an  informal  dance. 


If  the  event  is  held  especially  for  debutantes,  the 
fact  is  noted  at  the  very  start.  "A  number  of  debu- 
tantes assisted  in  receiving  at  a  tea  given  by,  etc." ; 
''The  debutantes  of  the  winter  were  out  in  force, 
etc." 

Such  a  story  is  usually  followed  by  a  list  of  guests, 
a  list  of  out-of-town  guests,  a  list  of  subscribers, 
or  something  of  the  sort.  Ordinarily  the  list  is  not 
tabulated  but  is  run  in  solid,  thus: 


The    guests    were :      Miss     Kathleen 
Smith,  Miss  Georgia  Brown,  etc. 


Very  often  the  names  are  grouped  together,  thus : 

The  guests  were:  The  Misses  Kath- 
leen Smith,  Georgia  Brown;  Mesdames 
Robert  R.  Green,  John  R.  Jones ;  and  the 
Messrs.  George  Hamilton,  Francis 
Bragg,  etc. 

15  211 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

The  number  of  variations  in  such  stories  is  lim- 
ited only  by  the  ingenuity  of  the  people  who  are  giv- 
ing such  entertainments.  But  in  each  case  the  re- 
porter learns  to  give  the  same  facts  in  much  the 
same  order.  And  he  gives  them  in  an  uncolored,  im- 
personal way  that  makes  the  items  interesting  only 
to  those  who  are  directly  connected  with  them.  The 
story  may  vary  from  a  single  sentence  to  half  a 
column,  but  it  always  begins  in  the  same  way  and 
elaborates  only  the  same  details.  Before  trying  to 
write  up  social  entertainments,  a  reporter  should 
always  be  sure  of  the  use  of  the  various  words  he 
employs — "chaperon,"  "patroness,"  etc.  For  in- 
stance, can  we  say  that  "Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  acted 
as  chaperons"? 

5.  Social  Announcements. — Social  announcements 
of  any  kind  are  usually,  like  the  wedding  and  en- 
gagement announcements,  confined  to  a  single  sen- 
tence. They  tell  only  the  name  of  the  host  and 
hostess,  the  name  of  the  guest  of  honor  or  the  occa- 
sion for  the  event,  the  time,  and  the  place.  Thus: 

Mrs.  Charles  P.  Jones  will  give  a 
dance  this  evening  at  her  home,  181 
Nineteenth  street,  to  introduce  her  sis- 
ter, Miss  Elsie'  Holt. 

A  study  of  the  foregoing  sections  on  society  sto- 
ries shows  how  definitely  a  reporter  is  restricted  in 

212 


SOCIAL   NEWS   AND    OBITUARIES 

the  facts  that  he  may  include  in  his  social  items — 
how  conventional  social  stories  have  become.  This 
very  restraint  in  the  matter  of  facts  makes  it  the 
more  necessary  for  a  reporter  to  exercise  his  origi- 
nality in  the  diction  of  social  items.  He  must  guard 
against  the  use  of  certain  set  expressions,  like  "offi- 
ciating," "performed  the  ceremony,"  and  "sol- 
emnized." While  restricted  in  the  facts  that  he  may 
give,  he  must  try  to  present  the  same  old  facts  in 
new  and  interesting  ways — he  may  even  resort  to 
a  moderate  use  of  "fine  writing,"  if  he  does  not  be- 
come florid  or  frivolous. 

6.  Unusual  Social  Stories — Just  as  soon  as  any  of 
these  stories  contains  a  feature  that  is  of  interest 
to  the  general  public  in  an  impersonal  way  it  leaves 
the  general  class  of  social  news  and  becomes  a  news 
story  to  be  written  with  the  usual  lead.  Even  the 
presence  of  a  very  prominent  name  will  make  a 
news  story  out  of  a  social  item.  For  instance,  the 
wedding  of  .Miss  .Ethel  .Barrymore.  was  written  by 
many  papers  as  a  news  story.  On  the  other  hand, 
an  unusual  marriage,  an  unusual  elopement,  or  any- 
thing unusual  and  interesting  in  a  .wedding  gives 
occasion  for  a  news  story.  Here  is  one : 


Because  their  is-year-old  daughter, 
Sarah,  married  a  man  other  than  the 
one  they -had  chosen,  who  is -wealthy, 

213 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Markovits  of  3128  Cedar 
street  have  gone  into  deep  mourning, 
draped  their  home  in  crepe  and  an- 
nounced to  their  friends  that  Sarah  is 
dead. — Philadelphia  Ledger. 


Or  the  story  may  be  handled  in  a  more  humorous 
way,  thus: 


There  is  really  no  objection  to  him, 
and  she  is  quite  a  nice  young  woman, 
but  to  be  married  so  young,  and  to  go 
on  a  wedding  journey  with  $18  in  their 
purses — but  Wallace  Jones,  student  of 
the  Western  University,  and  Ruth 
Smith,  student  in  the  McKinley  High 
School,  decided  it  was  too  long  a  time 
to  wait,  and  a  nice  old  pastor  gentleman 
in  St.  Joe  has  made  them  one. — Milwau- 
kee Free  Press. 


7.  Obituaries — Like  many  other  classes  of  news- 
paper stories,  the  obituary  has  developed  a  conven- 
tional form  which  is  followed  more  or  less  rigidly 
by  all  the  papers  of  the  land.  Every  obituary  fol- 
lows the  same  order  and  tells  the  same  sort  of  facts 
about  its  subject.  It  begins  with  a  brief  account  of 
the  deceased  man's  death,  runs  on  through  a  very 
condensed  account  of  the  professional  side  of  his 
life  and  ends  with  the  announcement  of  his  funeral 
or  a  list  of  his  surviving  relatives. 

The  lead  is  concerned  only  with  his  death,  answer- 
214 


SOCIAL   NEWS   ANt>   OBITUARIES 

ing  the  usual  questions  about  where,  how,  and  why, 
and  is  written  to  stand  alone  if  necessary.  It  or- 
dinarily begins  with  the  man's  full  name,  because 
of  course  the  name  is  the  most  important  thing  in 
the  story,  and  then  tells  who  he  was  and  where  he 
lived.  This  is  followed,  perhaps  in  the  same  sen- 
tence, by  the  time  of  his  death,  the  cause,  and  per- 
haps the  circumstances.  Thus : 

CAMBRIDGE,  Mass.,  Nov.  25.— Dr. 
John  H.  Blank,  professor  of  Greek  at 
Harvard  since  1887  and  dean  of  the 
Graduate  School  since  1895,  died  at  his 
home  in  Quincy  street  today  from  heart 
trouble.  Professor  Blank  was  an  au- 
thority on  classical  subjects. — New 
York  Tribune. 

This,  as  you  see,  might  stand  alone  and  be  com- 
plete in  itself.  Many  obituaries,  however,  add  an- 
other paragraph  after  the  lead  in  which  the  circum- 
stances of  the  death  are  discussed  in  greater  detail. 
Here  is  the  second  paragraph  of  another  obituary: 

At  8:30  tonight  Mr.  Blank  was  walk- 
ing with  his  wife  on  the  veranda  of  the 
Delmonte  Hotel,  when  he  suddenly 
gasped  as  if  in  great  pain  and  fell  to 
the  floor.  He  was  carried  inside,  but 
was  dead  before  the  physicians  reached 
his  bedside.  Apoplexy  is  said  to  have 
been  the  cause. 

215 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 


Next  comes  the  account  of  the  deceased  man's 
life.  It  is  told  very  briefly  and  impersonally  and 
concerns  itself  chiefly  with  the  events  of  his  busi- 
ness or  professional  activities.  It  is  but  a  catalogue 
of  his  achievements  and  the  dates  of  those  achieve- 
ments. These  facts  are  usually  obtained  from  the 
file  of  biographies- — called  the  morgue — which  most 
newspapers  keep.  The  account  first  tells  when  and 
where  he  was  born  and  perhaps  who  his  parents 
were.  Next  his  education  is  briefly  discussed.  Then 
the  chief  events  of  his  professional  or  business  life. 
The  date  of  his  marriage  and  the  maiden  name  of 
his  wife  are  included  somewhere  in  or  at  the  end 
of  this  account.  Usually  a  list  of  the  organizations 
of  which  the  man  was  a  member  and  a  list  of  the 
books  which  he  had  written  are  attached  to  this  ac- 
count. One  of  the  foregoing  obituaries  continues  as 
follows : 


He  was  born  in  Urumiah,  Persia,  on 
February  4,  1852,  being  the  son  of  the 
Rev.  Austin  H.  Blank,  a  missionary. 
He  was  graduated  from  Dartmouth  in 
1873,  and  that  college  awarded  him  the 
degrees  of  A.  M.  in  1876  and  LL.D.  in 
1901.  From  1876  to  1878  he  studied  at 
Leipzig  University.  He  was  assistant 
professor  of  ancient  languages  at  the 
Ohio  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Col- 
lege from  1873  to  1876,  associate  pro- 
fessor of  Greek  at  Dartmouth  from 

216 


SOCIAL   NEWS   AND    OBITUARIES 


1  1878  to  1880,  and  dean  of  the  collegiate 
board  and  professor  of  classical  phil- 
ology at  Johns  Hopkins  in  1886  and 
1887.  In  I9°^  arjd  1907  he  served  as 
professor  in  the  American  School  of 
Classical  Studies  in  Athens. 

(Then  follows  a  list  of  the  organiza- 
tions of  which  he  was  a  member  and 
the  periodicals  with  which  he  was  con- 
nected.) 

He  married  Miss  Mary  Blank,  daugh- 
ter of  the  president  of  Blank  College, 
in  1879,  and  she  survives  him. — New 
York  Tribune. 


The  obituary  usually  ends  with  a  list  of  surviving 
relatives — especially  children  and  very  often  the 
funeral  arrangements  are  included.  This  is  the  last 
paragraph  of  another  obituary : 


His  first  wife,  Mary  V.  Blank,  died 
in  1872.  Three  years  later  he  married 
Mrs.  Sarah  A.  Blank,  of  Hightstown, 
N.  J.,  who  with  four  daughters,  sur- 
vives him.  The  funeral  will  be  held 
tomorrow  at  n  130  o'clock.  The  burial 
will  be  in  the  family  plot  in  Green- 
wood Cemetery. 


This  is  the  standard  form  of  the  obituary  which 
is  followed  by  most  daily  newspapers  in  fair-sized 
cities.  The  form  is  characterized  by  an  extreme  con- 
ciseness and  brevity  and  an  absolutely  impersonal 
tone.  Very  rightly,  an  obituary  is  handled  with  a 

217 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

sense  of  the  sanctified  character  of  its  subject.  It 
offers  no  opportunity  for  fine  writing  or  human  in- 
terest; it  simply  gives  the  facts  as  briefly  and  im- 
personally as  possible. 


XIV 

SPORTING   NEWS 

Division  of  labor  on  the  larger  American  news- 
papers has  made  the  reporting  of  athletic  and  sport- 
ing events  into  a  separate  department  under  a  sepa- 
rate editor.  The  pink  or  green  sporting  sheets  of 
the  big  papers  have  become  separate  little  news- 
papers in  themselves  handled  by  a  sporting  editor 
and  his  staff  and  entirely  devoted  to  athletic  news, 
except  when  padded  out  with  left-over  stories  from 
other  pages.  Although  on  smaller  papers  any  re- 
porter may  be  called  upon  to  cover  an  athletic  event, 
in  the  cities  such  news  is  handled  entirely  by  experts 
who  are  thoroughly  acquainted  with  all  phases  of 
the  athletic  sports  about  which  they  write.  The 
stories  on  the  pink  sheet  enjoy  the  greatest  uncon- 
ventionality  of  form  to  be  seen  anywhere  in  the 
paper  except  on  the  editorial  page.  And  yet,  be- 
cause athletic  reporters  are  usually  men  taken  from 
regular  reporting  and  because  the  same  ideas  and 
necessities  of  news  values  govern  the  sporting  pages, 

219 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

athletic  stories  follow,  in  general,  the  usual  news 
story  form. 

One  may  expect  to  find  under  the  head  of  sports 
almost  any  news  that  is  any  way  connected  with  col- 
lege, amateur,  or  professional  athletics.  The  stories 
include  accounts  of  baseball  and  football  games,  row- 
ing, horse  racing,  track  meets,  boxing,  and  many 
other  forms  of  sport,  as  well  as  any  discussions  or 
movements  growing  out  of  these  sports.  Many  of 
the  stories  are  only  a  few  lines  in  length  while  others 
may  cover  a  column  or  more.  But  in  general  each 
one  has  a  lead  which  answers  the  questions  when? 
where?  how?  who?  and  why?  and  runs  along  much 
like  an  ordinary  news  story.  For,  after  all,  even 
athletic  stories  are  written  to  attract  and  to  hold 
the  reader's  interest  whether  or  not  he  is  directly 
interested  in  the  sport  under  discussion.  Any  re- 
porter who  is  called  upon  to  cover  an  athletic  event 
is  safe  in  writing  his  story  in  the  usual  news  story 
form. 

As  it  would  be  impossible  to  discuss  all  the  various 
stories  that  come  under  the  head  of  athletic  news, 
the  reporting  of  college  football  games  will  be  taken 
as  typical  of  the  others.  The  rules  that  are  sug- 
gested for  the  reporting  of  football  games  may  be 
applied  to  baseball  games,  track  meets,  and  other 
sporting  events.  The  same  principles  govern  all 

220 


SPORTING   NEWS 

of  them  and  the  stories  usually  summarize  results 
in  about  the  same  way.  Football  stories  may  be 
divided  into  three  general  classes :  the  brief  sum- 
mary story  of  a  stickful  or  a  trifle  more;  the 
usual  football  story  of  a  half  column  or  less;  and 
the  long  story  that  may  be  run  through  a  column 
or  more,  depending  upon  the  importance  of  the 
game. 

All  three  of  these  stories  are  alike  in  the 
general  facts  which  they  contain;  they  differ  only 
in  the  number  of  minor  details  which  they  include 
in  the  elaboration  of  these  general  facts.  Each  one 
tells  in  the  first  sentence  what  teams  were  competing, 
the  final  score,  when  and  where  the  game  was  played, 
and  perhaps  some  striking  feature  of  the  game — the 
weather,  the  conditions  of  the  field,  the  star  players, 
or  a  sensational  score.  After  that,  with  more  or  less 
expansion,  each  of  the  stories  gives  the  essential 
things  that  the  reader  wants  to  know  about  the 
game.  These  consist  usually  of  the  way  in  which  the 
scoring  was  done,  a  comparison  of  the  playing  of  the 
teams,  a  list  of  the  star  players,  the  weather  con- 
ditions, and  the  crowd.  If  the  writing  of  the  story 
includes  a  discussion  of  each  of  these  points  in  more 
or  less  detail,  the  game  will  be  covered  in  all  of  its 
essential  phases.  The  three  kinds  of  stones  differ 
from  one  another,  not  in  the  facts  that  they  include, 

221 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

but  in  the  length  at  which  they  expand  upon  these 
facts.  One  rule  should  be  noted  in  the  writing  of  all 
these  stories  or  of  any  athletic  story — avoid  superla- 
tives. To  a  green  reporter  almost  every  game  seems 
to  be  "the  most  spectacular,"  "the  most  thrilling," 
"the  hardest  fought,"  "the  most  closely  matched," 
but  a  broad  experience  is  necessary  to  defend  the 
use  of  any  superlative  about  the  game. 

1.  The  Brief  Summary  Story. — This  is  the  little 
story  of  a  stickful  or  less,  which  merely  announces 
the  result  of  some  distant  or  unimportant  game. 
Taken  in  its  shortest  form  it  gives  only  the  names 
of  the  teams,  the  score,  the  time  and  place  of  the 
game,  and  perhaps  a  word  or  two  of  general  charac- 
terization. As  it  is  allowed  to  expand  in  length  it 
takes  up  as  briefly  as  possible  the  following  facts 
in  the  order  in  which  they  are  given :  the  scoring, 
the  comparison  of  play,  the  star  players  or  plays. 
It  is  a  mere  announcement  of  the  result  of  the  game 
and  no  more,  for  that  is  all  the  reader  wants.  The 
line-ups  and  other  tables  are  usually  omitted,  and 
nothing  is  included  that  goes  beyond  this  narrow 
purpose.  Here  are  a  few  examples : 

IOWA  CITY,  la.,  Nov.  25.— Sensa- 
tional end  runs  by  McGinnis  and  Curry 
near  the  end  of  the  final  quarter  of 
play  gave  Iowa  a  6-to-o  victory  over 
Northwestern  here  this  afternoon. 

222 


SPORTING   NEWS 

Fort  Atkinson  High  School  defeated 
Madison  High  today  in  the  final  mo- 
ments of  play  when  a  punt  by  Davy, 
fullback  for  Madison,  was  blocked  and 
the  ball  recovered  behind  the  line,  giv- 
ing Fort  Atkinson  the  game,  2  to  o. 

INDIANAPOLIS,  June  3.— Indianap- 
olis started  its  at-home  series  today  by 
defeating  Kansas  City,  3  to  2.  Robert- 
son was  in  fine  form,  striking  out  five 
men,  permitting  no  one  to  walk  and 
allowing  only  six  hits.  Score:  (Ta- 
bles.) 

LAFAYETTE,  Ind.,  June  i.— With 
the  score  41  1-3  points,  athletes  repre- 
senting the  University  of  California  won 
the  twelfth  annual  meet  of  the  West- 
ern Intercollegiate  Athletic  Conference 
Association  today. 

Missouri  was  second  with  29  1-3 
points,  Illinois  third  with  26,  Chicago 
fourth  with  15  and  Wisconsin  fifth  with 
12  1-2. 


2.  The  Usual  Football  Story — The  usual  report 
of  a  game  is  a  story  of  a  half  column  or  less  which 
is  longer  than  the  brief  summary  story  and  not  so 
detailed  as  the  long  football  story.  This  is  the  story 
that  a  correspondent  would  usually  send  to  his  paper. 
It  is  like  them  both  in  the  facts  that  it  includes  and 
differs  only  in  length  and  in  manner  of  treatment. 
This  story  is  usually  divided  into  two  parts:  the 
introduction  and  the  running  account.  The  intrb- 

223 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

duction,  or  lead,  is  very  much  like  the  brief  sum- 
mary story;  in  fact,  the  entire  brief  summary  story 
might  be  used  as  the  introduction  of  a  story  of  this 
type.  The  second  part,  the  running  account,  cor- 
responds to  the  running  account  of  the  game  as  it 
will  be  taken  up  with  the  long  football  story. 

The  introduction  of  the  usual  athletic  story 
always  contains  certain  facts.  The  first  sentence, 
corresponding  to  the  lead  of  a  news  story,  always 
gives  the  names  of  the  teams,  the  score,  the  time, 
the  place,  and  the  most  striking  feature  of  the  game. 
After  this  the  plays  that  resulted  in  scores  are  de- 
scribed and  the  star  plays  or  players  are  enumerated. 
Usually  a  comparison  of  the  two  teams,  as  to  weight, 
speed,  and  playing,  follows,  and  the  opinion  of  the 
captain  or  of  some  coach  may  be  included.  The  rest 
of  the  introduction  may  be  devoted  to  the  pictur- 
esque side  of  the  game :  the  crowd,  the  cheering,  the 
celebration,  etc.  All  of  this  must  be  told  briefly  in 
200  words  or. less.  The  introduction  is  simply  the 
brief  summary  story  slightly  expanded.  Here  is  a 
fair  example  (the  paragraph  containing  the  scoring 
has  been  omitted) : 


Purdue  triumphed  over  Indiana  to- 
day, 12  to  5,  recording  the  first  victory 
for  the  Boilermakers  over  the  Crimson 
in  five  years. 

224 


SPORTING   NEWS 


(Omitted  paragraph  on  scoring  be- 
longs here.) 

Purdue  played  a  great  game  at  all 
times.  Oliphant,  right  half-back  on  the 
Boilermaker  eleven,  played  remarkably 
well  and  was  the  hardest  man  for  the 
locals  to  handle.  Ba*bfa,  Miller,  Wins- 
ton and  Capt.  Tavey  also  starred  for 
Coach  Hoit's  men. 

The  Lafayette  rooters,  1,500  strong, 
rushed  on  the  field  at  the  close  of  the 
struggle  and  carried  their  players  off 
the  field. 


This  is  ordinarily  followed  by  a  brief  running 
account  of  the  game.  It  does  not  attempt  to  follow 
every  play  or  to  trace  the  course  of  the  ball  through- 
out the  entire  game,  as  a  complete  running  account 
would  do.  It  is  usually  made  from  the  detailed  run- 
ning account  by  a  process  of  elimination  so  that 
nothing  but  the  "high  spots"  of  the  game  is  left. 
Such  an  account  may  run  from  200  to  300  words  in 
length.  At  the  end  tables  are  usually  printed  to 
give  the  line-up  and  the  tabulated  results  of  the 
game,  but  these  may  sometimes  be  omitted.  The 
following  is  an  extract  from  a  condensed  running 
account : 

Again  the  cadets  fought  their  way 
to  the  lo-yard  line,  runs  by  Rose  and 
Patterson  helping  materially,  but  again 
Wayland  held.  The  half  ended  after 
Wayland  had  kicked  out  of  danger. 

225 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

In  the  second  half  St.  John's  out- 
played Wayland  throughout.  The  ca- 
dets by  a  succession  of  line  plunges 
took  the  ball  within  striking  distance 
several  times,  only  to  be  held  for  downs 
or  lose  it  on  a  fumble. 

Patterson  electrified  the  crowd  just 
before  the  third  quarter  ended  by  twice 
dodging  through  for  2O-yard  runs,  plac- 
ing the  ball  on  the  15-yard  line,  where 
the  cadets  were  held  for  downs. 


3.  Long  Football  Story.— The  third  class  of  foot- 
ball story  is  the  long  detailed  account.  This  is  all 
that  is  left  of  the  elaborate  write-ups  of  the  season's 
big  games  that  were  printed  a  few  years  ago  and 
may  be  seen  occasionally  now.  Ten  or  twenty  years 
ago  it  was  not  unusual  for  an  editor  to  run  several 
pages,  profusely  illustrated,  on  a  big  eastern  foot- 
ball game.  The  story  was  written  up  from  every 
possible  aspect — athletic,  social,  picturesque,  etc. 
Every  play  was  described  in  detail  and  sometimes 
a  graphic  diagram  of  the  play  was  inserted.  Each 
phase  was  handled  by  a  different  reporter  and  the 
whole  thing  was  given  a  prominence  in  the  paper 
out  of  all  proportion  with  its  real  importance.  Such 
a  treatment  of  athletic  news  has  now  been  very 
largely  discarded. 

The  outgrowth  of  this  elaborate  treatment  is  the 
common  one-  or  two-column  account  in  the  pink  or 

226 


SPORTING   NEWS 

green  sporting  pages.  All  of  the  various  aspects 
of  the  big  game  are  still  to  be  seen,  condensed  to 
the  smallest  amount  of  space ;  and  this  brief  account 
of  the  different  aspects  of  the  game  is  arranged  as 
an  introduction  of  a  half  column  or  less  to  head  the 
running  account  of  the  game.  This  is  the  sort  of 
story  that  is  used  to  report  the  Yale-Harvard  games 
and  the  more  important  middle  western  games.  Its 
form  has  become  very  definitely  settled  and  a  cor- 
respondent can  almost  write  his  story  of  the  big 
game  by  rule. 

The  first  part  of  the  story,  called  the  introduction, 
consists  of  five  or  six  general  paragraphs.  The  ma- 
terial in  this  introduction  is  arranged,  paragraph  by 
paragraph,  in  the  order  of  its  importance.  Follow- 
ing this  is  a  running  account  of  the  game  which 
may  occupy  a  column  or  more,  depending  upon  the 
importance  of  the  contest.  At  the  end  is  a  table 
showing  the  line-up  and  a  summary  of  the  results. 

The  introduction  of  the  big  football  or  baseball 
story  usually  follows  a  very  definite  order.  There 
are  certain  things  which  it  must  always  contain: 
the  result  of  the  game;  how  the  scoring  was  done; 
a  characterization  of  the  playing ;  the  stars ;  the  con- 
dition of  the  weather  and  the  field ;  the  crowd ;  etc. 
The  reader  always  wishes  to  know  these  things 
about  the  game  even  if  he  does  not  care  to  read  the 
16  227 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

running  account.  It  is  equally  evident  that  the 
scoring  is  of  greater  interest  than  the  crowd,  and 
that  a  comparison  of  the  teams  is  more  important 
than  the  cheering.  And  so  a  reporter  may  almost 
follow  a  stereotyped  outline  in  writing  his  account. 
A  possible  outline  would  be  something  like  this : 

First  Paragraph. — The  names  of  the  teams,  the 
score,  when  and  where  the  game  was  played,  and 
perhaps  some  striking  feature  of  the  game.  The 
weather  may  have  been  a  significant  factor,  or 
the  condition  of  the  field;  the  crowd  may  have 
been  exceptionally  large  or  small,  enthusiastic  or 
uninterested;  or  the  game  may  have  decided  a 
championship ;  some  star  may  have  been  unusually 
prominent,  or  the  scoring  may  have  been  done 
in  an  extraordinary  way.  Any  of  these  factors, 
if  of  sufficient  significance,  would  be  played  up  in 
the  first  line  just  as  the  feature  of  an  ordinary 
news  story  is  played  up.  This  paragraph  corre- 
sponds to  the  lead  of  a  news  story  and  is  so 
written.  For  example : 

Playing  ankle-deep  in  mud  before  a 
wildly  enthusiastic  gathering  of  foot- 
ball rooters,  the  gridiron  warriors  of 
Siwash  College  defeated  the  Tigers  this 
afternoon  on  Siwash  athletic  field  by  the 
score  of  5  to  o. 

Second  Paragraph. — Here  the  reporter  usually  tells 
how  the  scoring  was  done,  what  players  made 
the  scores,  and  how. 

228 


SPORTING   NEWS 

Third  Paragraph. — The  next  thing  of  importance 
is  a  comparison  of  the  two  teams.  The  reader 
wants  to  know  how  they  compared  in  weight, 
speed,  and  skill,  and  how  each  one  rose  to  the 
fight.  A  general  characterization  of  the  playing 
or  a  criticism  may  not  be  out  of  place  here. 

Fourth  Paragraph. — Now  we  are  ready  to  tell  about 
the  individual  players.  Our  readers  want  to  know 
who  the  stars  were  and  how  they  starred. 

Fifth  Paragraph. — This  brings  us  down  near  the 
tag  end  of  the  introduction.  Very  often  this 
paragraph  is  devoted  to  the  opinions  of  the  cap- 
tains and  coaches  on  the  game.  Their  state- 
ments, if  significant,  may  be  boxed  and  run  any- 
where in  the  report. 

Sixth  Paragraph. — The  picturesque  and  social  side 
of  the  game  comes  in  here.  The  size  of  the  crowd, 
the  enthusiasm,  the  celebration  between  halves 
or  before  or  after  the  game,  are  usually  told. 
This  material  may  be  of  enough  importance  to 
occupy  several  paragraphs,  but  the  reporter  must 
always  remember  that  he  is  writing  a  sporting 
account  and  not  a , picturesque  description  of  a 
social  event. 

Seventh  Paragraph. — This  paragraph  usually  be- 
gins the  running  account  of  the  game. 

******* 
N-th   Paragraph. — This  space  at  the  end   of  the 
entire  report  is  given  to  the  line-ups  and  tabu- 
lated results  of  the  game. 

229 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

This  arrangement  may  of  course  be  varied,  and 
any  of  the  foregoing  factors  of  the  game  may  be 
of  sufficient  importance  to  be  placed  earlier  in  the 
story.  Never,  however,  should  the  various  factors 
be  mixed  together  heterogeneously  and  written  in 
a  confused  mass.  Each  element  must  be  taken  up 
separately  and  occupy  a  paragraph  by  itself. 

The  running  account  of  the  game,  which  follows 
the  introduction,  requires  little  rhetorical  skill. 
Each  play  is  described  in  its  proper  place  and  order 
and  should  be  so  clear  that  a  reader  could  make  a 
diagram  of  the  game  from  it.  It  must  also  be  accu- 
rate in  names  and  distances  as  well  as  in  plays. 

Probably  every  individual  sporting  correspondent 
has  a  different  way  of  distinguishing  the  players 
and  the  plays  and  of  writing  his  running  account. 
It  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  watch  a  game  from  the 
press  stand  far  up  in  the  bleachers  and  be  able  to 
tell  who  has  the  ball  in  each  play  and  how  many 
yards  were  gained  or  lost.  Familiarity  with  the  teams 
and  the  individual  players  makes  the  task  easier 
but  few  reporters  are  so  favored  by  circumstances. 
They  must  get  the  names  from  the  cheering  or  from 
other  reporters  about  them  unless  they  have  some 
method  of  their  own. 

There  is  one  method  that  may  be  followed  with 
some  success.  Before  the  game  the  reporter  equips 

230 


SPORTING   NEWS 

himself  with  a  table  of  the  players  showing  them 
in  their  respective  places  as  the  two  teams  line  up. 
It  is  usually  impossible  to  tell  who  has  the  ball  dur- 
ing any  single  play  because  the  eye  cannot  follow 
the  rapid  passing,  but  it  is  always  possible  to  tell 
who  has  the  ball  when  it  is  downed.  At  the  end  of 
each  play  as  the  players  line  up,  the  reporter  keeps 
his  eye  on  the  man  who  had  the  ball  when  it  was 
downed  and  watches  to  see  ^  the  position  he  takes 
in  the  new  line-up.  Then  a  glance  at  the  table  will 
tell  him  the  man's  name. 

The  running  account  is  written  as  simply  and 
briefly  as  possible.  It  follows  each  play,  telling 
what  play  was  made,  who  had  the  ball,  and  what  the 
result  was.  It  keeps  a  record  of  all  the  time  taken 
out,  the  changes  in  players,  the  injuries,  etc.  A 
typical  running  account  reads  something  like  this: 


Siwash  advanced  the  ball  two  yards 
by  a  line  plunge.  Kelley  carried  the  ball 
around  left  end  for  five  yards  to  the 
Tigers'  5o-yard  line.  The  Tigers  gained 
the  ball  on  a  fumble  after  a  fake  punt 
and  lined  up  on  their  own  45-yard  line. 
Time  called.  Score  at  end  of  first  half, 
o  to  o. 


At  the  end  of  the  running  account  are  tables,  usu- 
ally set  in  smaller  type,  giving  the  line-up  of  the 

231 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 


two  teams  and  the  tabulated  results  of  the  game. 
Some  papers  arrange  the  tables  as  follows : 


Siwash: 


Tigers: 


Smith left   end Jones 

Brown left  tackle Green-Wood 

McCarthy left  guard Connor 

Hall  (Capt.) centre Jacobs 

Etc. 

Other  papers  use  this  system  which  brings  the  op- 
posing players  together : 

Siwash:  Tigers: 

1.  e Smith  :  Williams r.  e. 

1. 1 Brown  :  Jackson r.  t- 

1.  g McCarthy  :  Cook  (Capt.) r.  g. 

c (Capt.)  Hall  :  Jacobs c. 

i    Etc. 

The  tabulated  results  at  the  end  may  be  something 
like  this: 

Score  by  periods: 

Tigers o        2        i        3—6 

Siwash o       o       o       o — o 

Touchdown  —  Brown.  Goal  from  touchdown  — 
O'Brien.  Umpire— Enslley,  Purdue.  Referee — Holt, 
Lehigh.  Field  judge — Hackensaa,  Chicago.  Head 
linesman — Seymour,  Delaware.  Time  of  periods— fif- 
teen minutes. 

Dispatches  and  stories  on  baseball  games  and  track 
meets  are  usually  accompanied  by  tables  of  results, 
similar  to  the  above  but  arranged  in  a  slightly  dif- 
ferent way.  The  form  may  be  learned  from  any 
reputable  sporting  sheet. 


XV 

HUMAN   INTEREST    STORIES 

In  our  study  of  newspaper  writing  up  to  this 
point  we  have  been  entirely  concerned  with  forms, 
rules,  and  formulas;  every  kind  of  story  which  we 
have  studied  has  had  a  definite  form  which  we  have 
been  charged  to  follow.  We  have  been  commanded 
always  to  put  the  gist  of  the  story  in  the  first  sen- 
tence and  to  answer  the  reader's  customary  questions 
in  the  same  breath.  Now  we  have  come  to  a  class 
of  newspaper  stories  in  which  we  are  given  absolute 
freedom  from  conventional  formulas.  In  fact,  the 
human  interest  story  is  different  from  other  news- 
paper stories  largely  because  of  its  lack  of  forms 
and  rules.  It  does  not  begin  with  the  gist  of  its 
news — perhaps  because  it  rarely  has  any  real  news — 
and  it  answers  no  customary  questions  in  the  first 
paragraph ;  its  method  is  the  natural  order  of  nar- 
rative. The  human  interest  story  stands  alone  as 
the  only  literary  attempt  in  the  entire  newspaper 
and,  as  such,  a  discussion  of  it  can  hardly  tell  more 

233 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTIiNG 

than  what  it  is,  without  any  great  attempt  to  tell 
how  to  write  it.  For  our  purposes,  the  distinguish- 
ing marks  of  the  human  interest  story  are  its  lack 
of  real  news  value  and  of  conventional  form,  and 
its  appeal  to  human  emotions. 

The  human  interest  story  has  grown  out  of  a 
number  of  causes.  Up  to  a  very  recent  time  news- 
papers have  been  content  with  printing  news  in  its 
barest  possible  form — facts  and  nothing  but  facts. 
Their  appeal  has  been  only  to  the  brain.  But  grad- 
ually editors  have  come  to  realize  that,  if  many 
monthly  magazines  can  exist  on  a  diet  of  fiction 
that  appeals  only  to  the  emotions,  a  newspaper  may 
well  make  use  of  some  of  the  material  for  true 
stories  of  emotion  that  comes  to  its  office.  They 
have  realized  that  newsiness  is  not  the  only  essential, 
that  a  story  does  not  always  have  to  possess  true 
news  value  to  be  worth  printing — it  may  be  inter- 
esting because  it  appeals  to  the  reader's  sympathy 
or  simply  because  it  entertains  him.  Hence  they 
began  to  print  stories  that  had  little  value  as  news 
but,  however  trivial  their  subject,  were  so  well  writ- 
ten that  they  presented  the  humor  and  pathos  of 
everyday  life  in  a  very  entertaining  way.  The  sen- 
sational newspapers  took  advantage  of  the  oppor- 
tunity but  they  shocked  their  readers  in  that  they 
tried  to  appeal  to  the  emotions  through  the  kind  of 

234 


s 
HUMAN    INTEREST    STORIES 

facts  that  they  printed,  rather  than  through  the 
presentation  of  the  facts.  They  did  not  see  that  the 
effectiveness  of  the  emotional  appeal  depends  upon 
the  way  in  which  a  human  interest  story  is  written, 
rather  than  upon  the  story  itself.  Therefore  they 
shocked  their  readers  with  extremely  pathetic  facts 
presented  in  the  usual  newspaper  way,  while  the 
journals  which  stood  for  high  literary  excellence 
were  able  to  handle  trivial  human  interest  material 
very  effectively.  Now  all  the  newspapers  of  the 
land  have  learned  the  form  and  are  printing  effective 
human  interest  stories  every  day. 

Another  reason  behind  the  growth  of  the  human 
interest  story  is  the  curse  of  cynicism  which  news- 
paper work  imprints  upon  so  many  of  its  followers. 
Every  editor  knows  that  no  ordinary  reporter  can 
work  a  police  court  or  hospital  run  day  after  day 
for  any  length  of  time  without  losing  his  sensibili- 
ties and  becoming  hardened  to  the  sterner  facts  in 
human  life.  Misfortune  and  bitterness  become  so 
common  to  him  that  he  no  longer  looks  upon  them 
as  misfortune  and  misery,  but  just  as  news.  Grad- 
ually his  stories  lose  all  sympathy  and  kindliness 
and  he  writes  of  suffering  men  as  of  so  many  wooden 
ten-pins.  When  he  has  reached  this  attitude  of  cyn- 
icism, his  usefulness  to  his  paper  is  almost  gone,  for 
a  reporter  must  always  see  and  write  the  news  from 

235 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

the  reader's  sympathetic  point  of  view.  To  keep 
their  reporters'  sensibilities  awake  editors  have  tried 
various  expedients  which  have  been  more  or  less 
successful.  One  of  these  is  the  "up-lift  run"  for  cub 
reporters — a  round  of  philanthropic  news  sources  to 
teach  them  the  business  of  reporting  before  they  be- 
come cynical.  Another  is  the  human  interest  story. 
If  a  reporter  knows  that  his  paper  is  always  ready 
and  glad  to  print  human  interest  stories  full  of 
kindliness  and  human  sympathy,  he  is  ever  on  the 
watch  for  human  interest  subjects  and  consequently 
forces  himself  to  see  things  in  a  sympathetic  way. 
Thus  he  unconsciously  wards  off  cynicism.  The 
search  for  human  interest  material  is  a  modification 
of  the  "sob  squad"  work  of  the  sensational  papers, 
on  more  delicate  lines. 

A  human  interest  story  is  primarily  an  attempt 
to  portray  human  feeling — to  talk  about  men  as  men 
and  not  as  names  or  things.  It  is  an  attempt  to  look 
upon  life  with  sympathetic  human  eyes  and  to  put 
living  people  into  the  reports  of  the  day's  news.  If 
a  man  falls  and  breaks  his  neck,  a  bald  recital  of 
the  facts  deals  with  him  only  as  an  animal  or  an 
inanimate  name.  The  fact  is  interesting  as  one 
item  in  the  list  of  human  misfortunes,  but  no  more. 
And  yet  there  are  many  people  to  whom  this  man's 
accident  is  more  than  an  interesting  incident — it 

236 


HUMAN    INTEREST    STORIES 

is  a  very  serious  matter,  perhaps  a  calamity.  To 
his  family  he  was  everything  in  the  world;  more 
than  a  mere  means  of  support,  he  was  a  living  hu- 
man being  whom  they  loved.  The  bald  report  of 
his  death  does  not  consider  them;  it  does  not  con- 
sider the  man's  own  previous  existence.  But  if  we 
could  get  into  the  hearts  of  his  wife  and  his  mother 
and  his  children,  we  could  feel  something  of  the 
real  significance  of  the  accident.  This  is  what  the 
human  interest  story  tries  to  do.  It  does  not  nec- 
essarily strive  for  any  effect,  pathetic  or  otherwise, 
but  tries  simply  to  treat  the  victim  of  the  misfor- 
tune as  a  human  being.  The  reporter  endeavors  to 
see  what  in  the  story  made  people  cry  and  then  tries 
to  reproduce  it.  In  the  same  way  in  another  minor 
occurrence,  he  attempts  to  reproduce  the  side  of  an 
incident  that  made  people  laugh.  Either  incident 
may  or  may  not  have  had  news  value  in  its  baldest 
aspect,  but  the  sympathetic  treatment  makes  the  re- 
sulting human  interest  story  worth  printing. 

There  are  various  kinds  of  human  interest  sto- 
ries. The  common  ground  in  them  all  is  usually 
their  lack  of  any  intrinsic  news  value.  Many  a 
successful  human  interest  story  has  been  printed 
although  it  contained  no  one  of  the  elements  of 
news  values  that  were  outlined  earlier  in  this  book. 
In  fact,  one  of  the  uses  of  the  human  interest  story 

237 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

is  to  utilize  newspaper  by-products  that  have  no  news 
value  in  themselves.  Hence  the  human  interest 
story  has  no  news  feature  to  be  played  up  and, 
since  it  does  not  contain  any  real  news,  it  does 
not  have  to  answer  any  customary  questions.  In 
form  it  is  much  like  a  short  story  of  fiction,  since 
it  depends  on  style  and  the  ordinary  rules  of  narra- 
tion. The  absence  of  a  lead,  more  than  any  other 
characteristic,  distinguishes  the  human  interest  story 
from  the  news  story,  in  form.  We  have  worked 
hard  to  learn  to  play  up  the  gist  of  the  news  in  our 
news  stories;  now  we  come  to  a  story  which  makes 
no  attempt  to  play  up  its  news — in  fact,  it  may  leave 
its  most  interesting  content  until  the  end  and  spring 
it  as  a  surprise  in  the  last  line.  To  be  sure,  most 
human  interest  stories  have  and  indicate  a  timeli- 
ness. The  story  may  have  no  news  value  but  it  is 
always  concerned  with  a  recent  event  and  usually 
tells  at  the  outset  when  the  event  occurred.  Almost 
without  exception,  the  examples  quoted  in  this  chap- 
ter show  their  timeliness  by  telling  in  the  first  sen- 
tence when  the  event  occurred.  So  much  for  the 
outward  form  of  the,  human  interest  story. 

1.  Pathetic  Story — One  of  the  many  kinds  of  hu- 
man interest  stories  is  the  pathetic  story.  Although 
it  does  not  openly  strive  for  pathos,  it  is  pathetic 
in  that  it  tells  the  story  of  a  human  misfortune,  sim- 


HUMAN    INTEREST    STORIES 


ply  and  clearly,  with  all  the  details  that  made  the 
incident  sad.  It  is  the  story  that  attempts  to  put 
the  reader  into  the  very  reality  of  the  pain  and  sor- 
row of  every  human  life.  Sometimes  it  makes  him 
cry,  sometimes  it  makes  him  shudder,  and  sometimes 
it  disgusts  him,  but  it  always  shows  him  misfortune 
as  it  really  is.  It  looks  down  behind  the  outward 
actions  and  words  into  the  hearts  of  its  actors  and 
shows  us  motives  and  feelings  rather  than  facts. 
But  just  as  soon  as  any  attempt  at  pathos  becomes 
evident,  the  story  loses  its  effectiveness.  Its  only 
means  are  clear  perception  and  absolute  truthful- 
ness. Here  is  an  example  of  a  pathetic  human  in- 
terest story  taken  from  a  daily  paper : 


Rissa  Sachs'  child  mind  yesterday 
evolved  a  tragic  answer  to  the  question, 
"What  shall  be  done  with  the  children 
of  divorced  parents?" 

She  took  her  life. 

Rissa  was  14  years  old.  The  divorce 
decree  that  robbed  her  of  a  home  was 
less  than  a  week  old.  It  was  granted 
to  her  mother,  Mrs.  Mellisa  Sachs,  by 
Judge  Brentano  last  Saturday. 

When  the  divorce  case  was  called  for 
trial  Rissa  found  that  she  would  be  com- 
pelled to  testify.  Reluctantly  she  cor- 
roborated her  mother's  story  that  her 
father,  Benjamin  Sachs,  had  struck  Mrs. 
,  Sachs.  It  was  largely  due  to  this  tes- 
timony that  the  decree  was  granted  and 

239 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 


the  custody  of  the  child  awarded  to  Mrs. 
Sachs. 

Then  the  troubles  of  the  girl  began 
in  real  earnest.  She  loved  her  mother 
dearly.  But  her  father,  who  had  been 
a  companion  to  her  as  well  as  a  parent, 
was  equally  dear  to  her. 

Both  parents  pleaded  with  her.  Mrs. 
Sachs  told  Rissa  she  could  not  live 
without  her.  The  father  told  the  girl, 
in  a  conversation  in  a  downtown  hotel 
several  days  ago,  that  he  would  disown 
her  unless  she  went  to  live  with  him. 

Every  hour  increased  the  perplexities 
of  the  situation  for  the  child.  She  could 
not  decide  to  give  up  either  of  her  par- 
ents for  fear  of  offending  the  other. 
So  she  sacrificed  her  own  life  and  gave 
up  both. 

Thursday  evening,  on  returning  from 
school  to  the  Sachs  home  at  4529  Ra- 
cine avenue,  Rissa  talked  long  and  earn- 
estly with  her  mother.  Then  she  retired 
to  her  room,  turned  on  the  gas  and, 
clothed,  lay  down  upon  her  bed  to  await 
death  and  relief  from  troubles  that  have 
driven  older  heads  to  despair. 

At  the  inquest  yesterday  afternoon 
the  grief-stricken  mother  told  the  story 
of  her  daughter's  difficulties.  She  said 
that  Rissa  had  declared  she  could  not 
live  if  compelled  to  give  up  either  of 
her  parents,  but  added  that  she  never 
had  believed  it. — Chicago  Record-Her- 
ald. 


240 


HUMAN   INTEREST    STORIES 

This  is  a  pathetic  human  interest  story  in  that 
it  attempts  to  give  the  human  significance  of  an  in- 
cident which  in  itself  would  have  little  news  value. 
Perhaps,  in  the  matter  of  words,  there  is  a  slight 
straining  for  pathos.  The  form,  it  will  be  noted, 
is  decidedly  different  from  that  of  a  news  story  on 
the  same  incident  and,  although  the  timeliness  is 
given  in  the  first  line,  there  is  no  attempt  to  present 
the  gist  of  the  story  in  a  formal  lead.  The  source 
of  the  news  is  indicated  in  the  last  paragraph. 

2.  Humorous  Story. — Another  kind  of  human  in- 
terest story  is  the  humorous  story.  Its  humor,  like 
the  pathos  of  a  pathetic  story,  does  not  come  from 
an  attempt  to  be  funny,  but  from  the  truthful  pres- 
entation of  a  humorous  incident,  from  the  incongru- 
ity and  ludicrousness  of  the  incident  itself.  The 
writer  tries  to  see  what  elements  in  a  given  incident 
made  him  laugh  and  then  portrays  them  so  clearly 
and  truthfully  that  his  readers  cannot  help  laughing 
with  him.  The  subject  may  be  the  most  trivial 
thing  in  the  world,  not  worth  a  line  as  a  news  story, 
and  yet  it  may  be  told  in  such  a  way  that  it  is  worth 
a  half-column  write-up  that  will  stand  out  as  the 
gem  of  the  whole  edition.  But  after  all  the  effect- 
iveness depends  upon  the  humor  in  the  original  sub- 
ject and  the  truthfulness  of  the  telling.  The  follow- 

241 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

ing  humorous  human  interest  story,  which  occupied 
a  place  on  the  front  page,  was  built  up  out  of  an 
incident  almost  devoid  of  news  value : 


One  of  Johnnie  Wilt's  original  ideas 
for  entertaining  his  twin  sister  Charlotte 
is  to  build  a  big  bonfire  on  the  floor  of 
their  playroom. 

Johnnie,  who  is  4  years  old,  carried 
his  plan  into  execution  at  the  Wilt 
home,  2474  Lake  View  avenue,  for  the 
first  time  yesterday  afternoon,  with  re- 
sults that  made  a  lasting  impression 
upon  his  mind  and  the  finishings  of  the 
interior  of  the  house. 

The  thing  was  suggested  to  him  by  a 
bonfire  he  saw  a  man  build  in  the  street. 
Charlotte  hadn't  seen  the  other  fire. 
For  some  reason  Charlotte's  feminine 
mind  refused  to  understand  just  what 
the  fire  was  like. 

Consequently  nothing  remained  for 
Johnnie  to  do  but  build  a  fire  of  his 
own.  He  piled  all  of  the  newspapers 
and  playthings  that  could  be  found  in 
the  middle  of  the  room  and  then  ap- 
plied a  match. 

When  the  flames  leaped  to  the  ceiling, 
however,  and  a  cloud  of  smoke  filled 
the  room,  Johnnie  began  to  doubt  the 
wisdom  of  the  move.  While  Charlotte 
ran  to  tell  a  maid  he  retreated  to  that 
haven  of  youthful  fugitives — the  space 
beneath  a  couch. 

The  frightened  maid  summoned  the 
fire  engines  and  the  fire  was  soon  ex- 

242 


HUMAN    INTEREST    STORIES 

tinguished.  But  Mrs.  Wilt  discovered 
that  Johnnie  had  disappeared.  She  tele- 
phoned to  Charles  T.  Wilt,  president 
of  the  trunk  company  that  bears  his 
name,  and  half  hysterically  told  of  the 
fire  and  the  disappearance  of  Johnnie. 

Just  then  there  was  a  scrambling 
sound  from  beneath  the  couch.  John- 
nie, looking  as  serious  as  a  4-year-old 
face  can  look,  walked  out. 

Mrs.  Wilt  seized  him  and,  to  an  ac- 
companiment of  "I-won't-do-it-agains," 
crushed  him  to  her  bosom.  Last  reports 
from  the  Wilt  home  were  that  Johnnie 
had  not  yet  been  punished  for  his  deed. 
— Chicago  Record-Herald. 

The  student  will  notice  how  all  the  facts  of  the 
story  and  the  answers  to  the  reader's  questions  are 
worked  in  here  and  there,  how  the  content  of  a 
news  story  lead  is  scattered  throughout  the  entire 
account. 

3.  Writing  the  Human  Interest  Story. — It  is  one 
thing  to  be  able  to  distinguish  material  for  a  human 
interest  story  and  another  to  be  able  to  write  the 
story.  The  whole  effectiveness  of  the  story,  as  we 
have  seen,  depends  upon  the  way  it  is  written. 
Many  a  poorly  written,  ungrammatical  news  story  is 
printed  simply  because  it  contains  facts  that  are  of 
interest,  regardless  of  the  way  in  which  they  are  pre- 
sented. But  never  is  a  poorly  written  human  inter- 
est story  printed ;  simply  because  the  facts  in  it  have 
17  243 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

little  interest  themselves  and  the  story's  usefulness 
depends  entirely  upon  the  presentation  of  the  facts. 
Hence,  the  human  interest  story,  more  than  any 
other  newspaper  story,  must  be  well  written.  And 
yet  there  are  no  rules  to  assist  in  the  writing  of  such 
a  story.  In  fact,  its  very  nature  depends  upon  orig- 
inality and  newness  in  form  and  treatment. 

In  the  first  place,  we  cannot  fall  back  upon  the 
conventional  lead  for  a  beginning,  because  a  lead 
would  be  out  of  place.  As  we  have  said  before,  the 
human  interest  story  does  not  begin  with  a  lead  for 
the  reason  that  it  has  no  striking  news  content  to 
present  in  the  lead.  In  many  cases  the  whole  story 
depends  upon  cleverly  arranged  suspense;  if  the 
content  is  given  in  a  lead  at  the  beginning  suspense 
is  of  course  impossible.  The  human  interest  story 
has  no  more  need  of  a  lead  than  does  a  short  story — 
in  some  ways  a  human  interest  story  is  very  much 
like  a  short  story — and  a  short  story  that  gives  its 
climax  in  the  first  paragraph  would  hardly  be  writ- 
ten or  read.  But,  just  like  the  short  story,  a  human 
interest  story  must  begin  in  an  attractive  way.  In 
the  study  of  short  story  writing  almost  half  of  the 
study  is  devoted  to  learning  how  to  begin  the  story, 
on  the  theory  that  the  reader  is  some  sort  of  a  fugi- 
tive animal  that  must  be  lassoed  by  an  attractive  and 
interesting  beginning.  The1  theory  is  of  course  a 

244 


HUMAN   INTEREST    STORIES 

true  one  and  it  holds  good  in  the  case  of  human 
interest  stories. 

But  no  rules  can  be  laid  down  to  govern  the  be- 
ginning of  human  interest  or  short  stories.  Each 
story  must  begin  in  its  own  way — and  each  must 
begin  in  a  different  way.  Some  writers  of  short 
stories  begin  with  dialogue,  others  with  a  clean-cut 
witticism,  others  with  attractive  explanation  or  de- 
scription, others  with  a  clever  apology.  The  list  is 
endless.  This  endless  list  is  ready  for  the  reporter 
who  is  trying  to  write  human  interest  stories.  But 
the  choosing  must  be  his  own.  He  must  select  the 
beginning  that  seems  best  adapted  to  his  story.  As 
an  inspiration  to  reporters  who  are  trying  to  write 
human  interest  stories,  a  few  beginnings  clipped 
from  daily  papers  are  given  here.  Some  are  good 
and  some  are  bad;  the  goodness  or  badness  in  each 
case  depends  upon  individual  taste.  They  can 
hardly  be  classified  in  more  than  a  general  way  for 
originality  is  opposed  to  all  classifications.  They 
are  merely  suggestions. 

A  striking  quotation  or  a  bit  of  apt  dialogue  is 
commonly  used  to  attract  attention  to  a  story.  Here 
are  some  examples : 

"Burglars,"  whispered  Mrs.  Vermilye 
to  herself  and  she  took  another  furtive 
peek  out  of  the  windows  of  her  rooms 
on  the  sixth  floor  of  the,  etc. 

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NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 


"Speaking  of  peanuts/'  observed  the 
man  with  the  red  whiskers,  "they  ain't 
the  only  thing  in  the  world  what  is 
small."  Etc. 

"Ales,  Wines,  Liquors  and  Cigars!" 
You  see  this  sign  in  the  windows  of 
every  corner  life-saving  station.  But 
what  would  you  say  if  you  saw  it  blaz- 
ing over  the  entrance  to  the  Colony 
Club,  that  rendezvous  for  the  little  and 
big  sisters  of  the  rich  at  Madison  ave- 
nue and  Thirtieth  street?  Etc. 


WANTED— Bright  educated  lady  as  secre- 
tary to  business  man  touring  northwest  states 
and  Alaska:  give  reference,  ability;  age,  de- 
scription. Address  E-640,  care  Bee. 

(7) -680  IQX. 


The  above  innocent  appearing  want 
ad  in  The  Bee,  although  alluring  in  its 
prospects  to  a  young  woman  desiring  a 
summer  vacation,  is  the  principal  factor 
in  the  arrest  of  one  M.  W.  Williams,  etc. 

A  well-written  first  sentence  in  a  human  interest 
story  often  purports  to  tell  the  whole  story,  like  a 
news  story  lead,  and  really  tells  only  enough  to  make 
you  want  to  read  further.  Here  are  a  few  examples : 

His  son's  suspicions  and  a  can  opener 
convinced  Andrew  Sherrer  last  Satur- 
day that  he  had  been  fleeced  out  of 
$500  by  two  clever  manipulators  of  an 
ancient  "get  -  something  -  for  -  nothing" 
swindle.  So  strong  was  the  victim's 
confidence,  etc, 

246 


HUMAN    INTEREST    STORIES 

There's  a  stubborn,  unlaid  ghost,  a 
gnome,  a  goblin,  a  swart  fairy  at  the 
least,  who  has  settled  down  for  the 
winter  in  a  perfectly  respectable  cellar 
over  in  Brooklyn  and  whiles  away  the 
dismal  hours  of  the  night  by  chopping 
spectral  cordwood  with  a  phantom  axe. 
Instead  of  going  to  board  with  Mrs. 
Pepper  or  another  medium  and  being  of 
some  use  in  the  world  and  having  a 
pleasant,  dim-lighted  cabinet  all  its  own, 
this  unhappy  ghost — or  ghostess — is  pes- 
tering Marciana  Rose  of  1496  Bergen 
street,  who  owns  the  cellar  and  the 
house  over  it — over  both  the  ghost  and 
the  cellar.  Etc. 

The  gowk  who  calls  up  3732  Rector 
today  will  get  a  splinter  in  his  finger  if 
he  scratches  his  head.  Nothing  doing 
with  3732  Rector.  From  early  morn 
till  dewy  eve  Mr.  Fish,  Mr.  C.  Horse, 
Mr.  Bass,  Mr.  Skate  and  other  inmates 
of  the  aquarium  will  be  inaccessible  by 
'phone.  Etc. 

Under  all  the  saffron  banners  and  the 
sprawling  dragons  clawing  at  red  suns 
over  the  roofs  of  Chinatown  yesterday 
there  was  a  tension  of  unrest  and  of 
speculation.  It  all  had  to  do  with  the 
luncheon  to  be  given  to  his  Imperial 
Highness  Prince  Tsai  Tao  and  the 
members  of  his  staff  at  the  Tuxedo  Res- 
taurant, 2  Doyers  street,  at  noon  to- 
morrow. Etc. 


247 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

Man  and  wife,  sitting  side  by  side  as 
pupils,  was  the  interesting  spectacle 
which  provided  the  feature  of  the  ele- 
mentary night  school  opening  last  night. 
Etc. 

Two  young  Germans  of  Berlin, 
neither  quite  '18  years  of  age,  had  a 
perfectly  uncorking  time  aboard  the 
White  Star  liner  Majestic,  in  yesterday. 
They  were  favorites  with  the  smoke- 
room  stewards.  They  learned  later  that 
man  is  born  unto  trouble  as  the  corks 
fly  upward.  Etc. 

It  was  a  long  black  overcoat  with  a 
velvet  collar,  big  cuffed  sleeves,  and 
broad  of  shoulder,  and  looked  decidedly 
warm  and  comfy.  It  stood  in  one  of 

the    large    display   windows    of   , 

and  covered  the  deficiencies  of  a  waxy 
dummy,  who  stared  in  a  surprised  sort 
of  manner  out  into  the  street  and  ap- 
peared to  be  looking  at  nothing.  Etc. 

The  bellboys  put  him  up  to  it  and 
then  Marcus  caused  a  lot  of  trouble. 
Marcus  is  a  parrot  who  has  been  spend- 
ing the  winter  in  one  of  the  large 
Broadway  hotels.  Etc. 

Lame,  old,  but  uncomplaining,  re- 
membering only  his  joy  when  a  visitor 
came  to  him,  and  forgetting  to  be  bitter 
because  of  the  wrongs  done  him,  meet- 
ing his  rescuer  with  a  wag  of  the  tail 
meant  to  be  joyful,  a  St.  Bernard  dog 
set  an  example^  etc. 

248 


HUMAN    INTEREST    STORIES 

Some  human  interest  stories  begin,  and  effectively, 
too,  with  a  direct  personal  appeal  to  the  reader; 
thus: 

If  you've  never  seen  anybody  laugh 
with  his  hands,  you  should  have  eased 
yourself  up  against  a  railing  at  the  Bar- 
num  and  Bailey  circus  in  Madison 
Square  Garden  yesterday  afternoon  and 
watched  a  band  of  250  deaf  mute  young- 
sters, all  bedecked  in  their  bestest,  sig- 
nalling all  over  the  Garden.  Etc. 

If  you've  ever  sat  in  the  enemy's  camp 
when  the  Blue  eleven  lunged  its  last 
yard  for  a  touchdown  and  had  your 
hair  ruffled  by  the  roar  that  swept  across 
the  gridiron,  you  can  guess  how  1,500 
Yale  men  yelled  at  the  Waldorf  last 
night  for  Bill  Taft  of  '78.  Etc. 

A  question  is  often  used  at  the  beginning  of  a  hu- 
man interest  story : 

A  near-suicide  or  an  accident.  Which  ? 
Keeper  Bean  is  somewhat  puzzled  to 
say  which,  but  it  is  quite  certain  it  will 
not  be  tried  again.  At  least,  Keeper 
Bean  does  not  think  it  will. 

But,  it  was  a  sad,  sad  Sunday  for  the 
little  white-faced  monkey.  For  hours 
he  lay  as  dead,  etc. 

Many  of  these  stories,  animal  or  otherwise,  begin 
with  a  name: 

249 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

Long  Tom,  a  Brahma  rooster  that 
had  been  the  "bad  inmate"  of  Jacob 
Meister's  farm  at  West  Meyersville,  N. 
J.,  for  three  years,  paid  the  penalty  of 
his  crimes  Christmas  morning  when  he 
was  beheaded  after  his  owner  had  con- 
demned him  to  death.  Bad  in  life,  he 
was  good  in  a  potpie  that  day,  etc. 


The  beginning  of  a  human  interest  story  is  always 
the  most  important  part;  just  like  a  news  story,  it 
must  attract  attention  with  its  first  line.  In  the 
same  way,  a  good  beginning  is  something  more 
than  half  done.  But  here  the  similarity  between 
the  two  ends.  The  news  story,  after  the  lead  is 
written,  may  slump  in  technique  so  that  the  end  is 
almost  devoid  of  interest;  the  human  interest  story, 
on  the  other  hand,  must  keep  up  its  standard  of  ex- 
cellence to  the  very  last  sentence  and  the  last  line 
must  have  as  much  snap  as  the  first.  It  is  never 
in  danger  of  losing  its  last  paragraph  and  so  it 
may  be  more  rounded  and  complete;  it  must  fol- 
low a  definite  plan  to  the  very  end  and  then  stop. 
In  this  it  is  like  the  short  story,  although  it  seldom 
has  a  plot.  There  are  no  rules  to  help  us  in  writ- 
ing any  part  of  the  human  interest  story.  Each  at- 
tempt has  a  different  purpose  and  must  be  done  in 
a  different  way.  Yet  the  reporter  must  know  be- 
fore he  begins  just  exactly  how  he  is  going  to  work 

250 


HUMAN    INTEREST    STORIES 

out  the  whole  story.  He  must  plan  it  as  carefully 
as  a  short  story.  A  few  minutes  of  careful  thought 
before  he  begins  to  write  are  better  than  much  re- 
working and  alteration  after  the  thing  is  done. 
This  applies  to  all  newspaper  writing. 

Much  of  the  effectiveness  of  the  human  interest 
story  depends  upon  the  reporter's  style.  When  we 
try  to  write  human  interest  stories  we  are  no  longer 
interested  in  facts,  as  much  as  in  words.  Our  read- 
ers are  not  following  us  to  be  informed,  but  to  be 
entertained.  And  we  can  please  them  only  by  our 
style  and  the  fineness  of  our  perception.  Although 
we  have  been  told  to  write  news  stories  in  the  com- 
mon every-day  words  of  conversation,  we  are  not 
so  limited  in  the  human  interest  story.  The  ele- 
gance of  our  style  depends  very  largely  upon  the 
size  of  our  vocabulary,  and  elegance  is  not  out  of 
place  in  this  kind  of  story.  Although  we  have  been 
told  to  use  dialogue  sparingly  in  news  stories,  our 
human  interest  story  may  be  composed  entirely  of 
dialogue.  In  fact,  we  are  hampered  by  no  restric- 
tions except  the  restrictions  of  English  grammar 
and  literary  composition.  Although  we  have  sought 
simplicity  of  expression  before,  we  may  now  strive 
for  subtlety  and  for  effect;  we  may  write  suggest- 
ively and  even  obscurely.  We  are  dealing  with  the 
only  part  of  the  newspaper  that  mal<es  any  effort 

251 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

toward  literary  excellence  and  only  our  originality 
and  cleverness  can  guide  us. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  repeat  that  one  cannot 
write  human  interest  stories  in  a  cynical  tone.  They 
are  a  reaction  against  cynicism.  They  re- 
quire one  to  feel  keenly,  as  a  human  being,  and 
to  write  sympathetically,  as  a  human  being.  The 
reporter  must  see  behind  the  facts  and  get  the  per- 
sonal side  of  the  matter — and  feel  it.  Then  he  must 
tell  the  story  just  as  he  sees  and  feels  it.  Absolute 
truthfulness  in  the  telling  is  as  necessary  as  keen 
perception  in  the  seeing.  Humor  must  be  sought 
through  the  simple,  truthful  presentation  of  an 
incongruous  or  humorous  idea  or  situation;  pathos 
must  be  sought  by  the  truthful  presentation  of  a 
pathetic  picture.  Just  as  soon  as  the  reporter  tries 
to  be  funny  or  to  be  pathetic  he  fails,  for  the  reader 
is  not  looking  to  the  reporter  for  fun  or  pathos — 
but  to  the  story  that  the  reporter  is  telling.  That 
is,  the  story  must  be  written  objectively;  the  writer 
must  forget  himself  in  his  attempt  to  impress  the 
story  upon  his  reader's  mind.  If  the  story  itself 
is  fundamentally  humorous  or  sad  and  the  story  is 
clearly  and  truthfully  told  with  all  the  details  that 
make  it  humorous  or  sad,  it  cannot  help  being  ef- 
fective. 

The  best  way  to  learn  how  to  write  human  inter- 
252 


HUMAN    INTEREST    STORIES 

est  stories  is  to  study  human  interest  stories.  Most 
papers  print  them  nowadays — they  can  easily  be 
distinguished  by  their  lack  of  news  value,  and  of 
a  lead — and  the  finest  example  is  just  as  likely  to 
crop  out  in  a  little  weekly  as  in  a  metropolitan  daily. 

4.  The  Animal  Story. — The  examples  printed  ear- 
lier in  this  chapter  are  specimens  of  the  truest  type 
of  human  interest  story  because  they  deal  with  hu- 
man beings.  They  derive  their  joy  or  sorrow  from 
things  that  happen  to  men  and  women.  But  all  the 
sketches  that  are  classed  as  human  interest  stories 
are  not  so  carefully  confined  to  the  limits  of  the 
title.  From  the  original  human  interest  story  the 
type  has  grown  until  it  includes  many  other  things 
— almost  any  piece  of  copy  that  has  no  intrinsic 
news  value.  Every  possible  subject  that  may  suit 
itself  to  a  pathetic  or  humorous  treatment  and  thus 
be  interesting,  although  it  has  no  news  value,  is 
roughly  classed  as  a  human  interest  story. 

One  of  these  outgrowths  of  the  true  human  in- 
terest sketch  is  the  animal  story.  In  the  large  cities, 
the  "zoo"  and  the  parks  have  become  a  fruitful 
source  of  "news.''  Anything  interesting  that  may 
happen  to  the  monkeys,  or  the  elephant,  the  spar- 
rows or  the  squirrels  in  the  parks,  horses  or  dogs 
in  the  street,  is  used  as  the  excuse  for  a  human  in- 
terest story.  Sometimes  the  purpose  is  pathos  and 

253 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 


sometimes  it  is  humor,  but,  whatever  it  may  be,  if 
it  is  clever  and  interesting  it  gets  its  place  in  the 
paper,  a  place  entirely  out  of  proportion  to  its  true 
news  value.  The  results  sometimes  verge  very  close 
upon  nature  faking,  but  after  all  they  are  only  the 
result  of  the  "up-lift"  idea  of  looking  at  all  life  in 
a  more  sympathetic  way.  Several  of  the  begin- 
nings quoted  earlier  in  this  chapter  belong  to  ani- 
mal stories  and  the  following  is  a  complete  one: 


Smithy  Kain  was  only  a  mongrel, 
horsemen  will  say,  but  in  his  equine 
heart  there  coursed  the  blood  of  thor- 
oughbreds. 

Smithy  Kain  was  killed  yesterday  af- 
ternoon, shot  through  the  head,  while 
thousands  of  Wisconsin  fair  patrons 
looked  on  in  shuddering  sympathy. 

It  was  a  tragedy  of  the  track. 

Owners,  trainers  and  drivers  always 
are  quick  to  declare  that  no  greater 
courage  is  known  than  that  possessed 
and  demonstrated  by  race  horses  in 
hard-fought  battles  on  the  turf,  and  the 
truth  of  this  was  never  more  strikingly 
brought  home  than  in  the  death  of 
Smithy  Kain  yesterday. 

With  a  left  hind  foot  snapped  at  the 
fetlock,  Smithy  Kain  raced  around  the 
track,  his  valiant  spirit  and  unfaltering 
gameness  keeping  him  up  until  he  had 
completed  the  course  in  unwavering  pur- 
suit of  the  flying  horses  in  front.  Every 
jump  meant  intense  agony,  but  he  would 

254 


HUMAN    INTEREST    STORIES 

not  quit.  Not  until  near  the  finish  did 
his  strength  give  out,  and  not  until  then 
was  the  pitiable  truth  discovered.  Men 
used  to  exhibitions  of  gameness  in  tests 
that  try  the  soul  looked  on  in  mute  ad- 
miration as  Smithy  Kain  shivered  and 
stumbled  from  the  pain  that  rapidly 
sapped  his  life.  Women  cried  openly. 

Two  shots  from  the  pistol  of  a  park 
policeman  ended  the  life  and  sufferings 
of  the  horse  that  was  only  a  mongrel, 
but  who,  in  his  equine  way,  was  a 
thoroughbred  of  thoroughbreds. 

Smithy  Kain  gave  to  his  master  the 
best  that  his  animal  mind  and  soul  pos- 
sessed. No  better  memorial  can  be 
written  even  of  man  himself. 

5.  The  Special  Feature  Story. — One  step  beyond 
the  animal  story  is  the  special  feature  story.  This 
kind  of  story  is  classed  with  the  human  interest 
story  because  it  has  no  news  value  and  because  its 
only  purpose  is  to  entertain  or  to  inform  in  a  gen- 
eral way;  and  yet  it  rarely  contains  any  human  in- 
terest. There  is  no  space  in  this  book  for  a  com- 
plete discussion  of  the  special  feature  story — an  en- 
tire volume  might  be  devoted  to  the  subject — but 
this  form  of  story  is  often  seen  in  the  news  columns 
of  the  daily  papers  and  deserves  a  mention  here. 
Ordinarily  the  special  feature  story  is  not  written 
by  reporters,  although  there  is  no  reason  why  re- 
porters should  not  use  in  this  way  many  of  the 

255 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

facts  that  come  to  them.  The  story  usually  comes 
from  outside  the  newspaper  office,  from  a  contrib- 
utor, from  a  syndicate,  or  from  some  other  daily, 
weekly,  or  monthly  publication;  however  a  word  or 
two  here  may  suggest  to  the  reporter  the  possibil- 
ity of  adding  to  his  usefulness  by  writing  such  sto- 
ries for  his  paper. 

The  special  feature  story  may  be  almost  anything. 
The  name  is  used  to  designate  timely  magazine  arti- 
cles, timely  write-ups  for  the  Sunday  edition,  and 
timely  squibs  for  the  columns  of  the  daily  papers. 
The  last  use  is  the  one  that  interests  us  and  it  inter- 
ests us  because  it  is  very  closely  related  to  the  human 
interest  story.  The  editors  usually  call  it  a  feature 
story  because  it  is  worth  printing  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  it  has  no  news  value.  In  this  and  in  its 
timeliness  it  is  like  the  human  interest  story.  But 
it  is  not  written  for  humor  or  pathos;  its  purpose 
is  to  entertain  the  reader.  Its  method  is  largely 
expository  and  its  style  may  be  anything ;  it  may  ex- 
plain or  it  may  simply  comment  in  a  witty  way.  The 
utilizing  of  otherwise  useless  by-products  of  the 
news  is  its  purpose — in  this  it  is  very  much  like  the 
animal  story. 

Subjects  for  feature  stories  may  come  from  any- 
where and  may  be  almost  anything.  A  very  com- 
mon kind  of  feature  story  is  the  weather  story  that 

256 


HUMAN   INTEREST    STORIES 

many  newspapers  print  every  day.  The  weather  is 
taken  as  the  excuse  for  two  or  three  stickfuls  of 
print  which  explain  and  comment  upon  weather  con- 
ditions, past,  present  and  future.  Growing  out  of 
this,  there  is  the  season  story  which  deals  with  any 
subject  that  the  season  may  suggest :  the  closing  of 
Coney  Island,  the  spring  styles  in  men's  hats,  the 
first  fur  overcoat,  Commencement  presents,  Easter 
eggs — anything  in  season.  Further  removed  from 
the  human  interest  story  is  the  timely  write-up 
which  has  no  other  purpose  than  to  explain,  in  a 
more  or  less  serious  or  sensible  way,  any  interest- 
ing subject  that  comes  to  hand.  The  story  purports 
not  only  to  entertain  but  to  inform  as  well.  It  has 
no  news  value  and  yet  it  is  usually  timely.  Here  are 
a  few  subjects  selected  at  random  from  the  daily 
papers :  "He'll  pay  no  tax  on  cake,"  explaining  in 
a  humorous  way  the  customs  methods  that  held  up 
the  importation  of  an  Italian  Christmas  cake; 
"Clearing  House  for  Brains,"  a  description  of  the 
new  employment  bureau  of  the  Princeton  Club  of 
New  York;  "Ideal  man  picked  by  the  Barnard 
girl,"  a  humorous  resume  of  some  Barnard  College 
class  statistics;  "Winning  a  Varsity  Letter,"  telling 
what  a  varsity  letter  stands  for,,  how  it  is  won,  and 
what  the  customs  of  the  various  colleges  in  regard 
to  letters  are;  "Jerry  Moore  raises  a  record  corn 

257 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

crop/'  telling  how  a  fifteen-year-old  boy  won  prizes 
with  a  little  patch  of  corn. 

These  are  just  a  few  suggestions  to  open  up  to 
the  reporter  the  vast  field  for  special  feature  articles. 
To  be  sure,  many  of  them  are  submitted  by  out- 
siders, but  there  is  no  reason  why  a  reporter  should 
not  write  these  stories  as  well  as  human  interest 
stories  for  his  paper,  since  he  is  in  the  best  posi-  • 
tion  to  get  the  material.  Whenever  a  special  fea- 
ture story  becomes  too  large  for  the  daily  edition 
there  is  always  a  possibility  of  selling  it  to  the  Sun- 
day section  or  to  a  monthly  magazine.  The  writing 
of  special  feature  stories  is  directly  in  line  with  the 
reporter's  work,  because  the  ordinary  method  of 
gathering  facts  for  a  feature  article  and  arranging 
them  in  an  interesting,  newsy  way  follows  closely 
the  method  by  which  a  reporter  covers  and  writes 
a  news  story.  Hence  almost  without  exception  the 
most  successful  magazine  feature  writers  are,  or 
have  been,  newspaper  reporters. 


XVI 
DRAMATIC   REPORTING 

Dramatic  reporting-  is  one  of  the  most  misused 
of  the  newspaper  reporter's  activities.  To  many 
reporters,  as  well  as  to  their  editors,  it  is  just  an 
easy  way  of  getting  free  admission  to  the  theater 
in  return  for  a  half  column  of  copy.  Hence  it  is 
treated  in  an  unjustly  trivial  way;  the  reports  of 
theatrical  productions  are  printed  most  often  as 
space  fillers  or  as  a  small  advertisement  in  return  for 
free  tickets.  But  after  all  the  work  is  an  important 
one  and  should  be  done  only  by  skillful  and  expert 
hands.  Dramatic  reporting  is  included  in  this  book, 
not  because  it  is  thought  possible  to.  give  the  sub- 
ject an  adequate  treatment,  but  because  theatrical 
reporting  is  a  branch  of  the  newspaper  trade  that 
may  fall  to  the  hands  of  the  youngest  reporter.  In 
mere  justice  to  the  stage  the  reporter  who  writes 
up  a  play  should  know  something  about  the  real  sig- 
nificance of  what  he  is  doing.  It  is  much  easier 
to  tell  the  beginner  what  not  to  do  than  to  tell  him 
18  259 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

exactly  what  to  do.  The  faults  in  dramatic  report- 
ing are  far  more  evident  than  the  virtues;  and  yet 
there  are  some  positive  things  that  may  be  said  on 
the  subject. 

The  first  important  question  in  the  whole  matter 
is  "Who  does  dramatic  reporting?"  One  would  like 
to  answer,  "Skilled  critics  of  broad  knowledge  and 
experience."  But  unfortunately  almost  anybody 
does  it — any  one  about  the  office  who  is  willing  to 
give  up  his  evening  to  go  to  the  theater.  To  be  sure, 
many  metropolitan  papers  employ  skilled  critics  to 
write  their  dramatic  copy  and  run  the  theatrical 
news  over  the  critic's  name.  Some  editors  of 
smaller  papers  have  the  decency  to  do  the  work 
themselves.  But  in  most  cases  the  work  is  given 
to  an  ordinary  reporter — and  not  infrequently  to  the 
greenest  reporter  on  the  staff.  Worse  than  that,  the 
work  is  seldom  given  to  the  same  reporter  contin- 
uously, but  is  passed  around  among  all  the  members 
of  the  staff.  Even  a  green  cub  may  learn  by  expe- 
rience how  to  report  plays,  but  if  the  work  falls  to 
him  only  once  a  month  his  training  is  very 
meager.  It  would  seem  in  these  days  of  much  dis- 
cussion of  the  theater  that  editors  would  realize 
the  power  which  they  have  over  the  stage  through 
their  favorable  or  unfavorable  criticism.  But  they 
do  not,  perhaps  because  they  know  little  about  the 

260 


DRAMATIC   REPORTING 

stage,  and  the  appeal  must  be  made  to  their  re- 
porters. Every  reporter,  except  upon  the  largest 
papers,  has  the  opportunity  sooner  or  later  to  give 
his  opinion  on  a  play.  In  anticipation  of  that  op- 
portunity these  few  words  of  advice  are  offered. 

The  first  requisite  in  dramatic  criticism  is  a  back- 
ground of  knowledge  of  the  drama  and  the  stage. 
To  children,  and  to  some  grown  people,  too,  the 
stage  is  a  little  dream  world  of  absolute  realities. 
Their  imaginations  turn  the  picture  that  is  placed  be- 
fore them  into  real,  throbbing  life.  They  do  not 
see  the  unreality  of  the  art,  the  suggestive  effects, 
the  flimsy  delusions ;  to  them  the  play  is  real  life,  the 
stage  is  a  real  drawing  room  or  a  real  wood,  and 
they  cannot  conceive  of  the  actors  existing  outside 
their  parts.  But  the  critic  must  look  deeper;  he 
must  understand  the  machinery  that  produces  the 
effects  and  he  must  weigh  the  success  of  the  effects. 
He  must  get  behind  the  play  and  see  the  actors  out- 
side the  cast  and  the  stage  without  its  scenery; 
the  dramatic  art  must  be  to  him  a  highly  technical 
profession.  For  this  reason,  he  must  know  some- 
thing about  dramatic  technique ;  he  must  have  some 
background  of  knowledge.  He  must  study  the  the- 
ater from  every  point  of  view,  from  an  orchestra 
seat,  from  behind  the  scenes,  from  a  peekhole  in 
the  playwright's  study,  and  from  the  pages  of  stage 

261 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

history.  All  the  tricks  and  effects  must  be  evident 
to  him.  The  only  thing  that  will  teach  him  this  is 
constant,  intelligent  theater-going.  He  must  be 
familiar  with  all  of  the  plays  of  the  season  and 
with  all  of  the  prominent  plays  of  all  seasons.  A 
child  cannot  criticize  the  first  play  that  he  sees  be- 
cause he  has  nothing  with  which  to  compare  it.  In 
the  same  way  a  reporter  cannot  justly  judge  any 
kind  of  play  until  he  has  seen  another  of  the  same 
kind  with  which  to  compare  it.  Hence  he  must 
know  many  plays  and  must  know  something  about 
the  history  of  the  theater.  Dramatic  criticism  is 
relative  and  the  critic  must  have  a  basis  for  his  com- 
parison. 

This  background  of  knowledge  may  seem  a  diffi- 
cult thing  to  acquire.  It  is;  and  it  can  best  be  ac- 
quired by  watching  many  plays  with  an  eye  for  the 
technique  of  the  art.  The  critic  may  judge  a  play 
from  its  effect  upon  him,  but  his  judgment  will  be 
superficial.  He  must  try  to  see  what  the  playwright 
is  trying  to  do,  how  well  he  succeeds,  what  tricks  he 
employs.  He  must  judge  the  work  of  the  stage  car- 
penter and  of  the  costumer.  He  must  try  to  realize 
what  problem  the  leading  lady  has  to  face  and  how 
well  she  solves  it.  The  same  carefulness  of  judg- 
ment must  be  given  to  each  member  of  the  cast. 
Only  when  the  critic  is  able  to  see  past  the  foot- 

262 


DRAMATIC   REPORTING 

lights  and  to  understand  the  technique  of  the  art, 
can  he  judge  intelligently.  And  as  his  judgment 
can  be  at  best  only  relative,  he  must  have  a  back- 
ground of  many  plays  and  much  stage  knowledge 
upon  which  to  base  his  estimate  of  any  one  pro- 
duction. 

The  ideal  criticism,  based  upon  this  background 
of  knowledge,  would  be  absolutely  fair  and  unpreju- 
diced. But  unfortunately  this  ideal  cannot  always 
be  followed.  Much  dramatic  criticism  is  colored  by 
the  policy  of  the  paper  that  prints  it.  Very  few 
critics  are  so  fortunate  as  to  be  able  to  say  exactly 
what  they  think  about  a  play;  they  must  say  what 
the  editor  wants  them  to  say.  Some  theatrical  copy, 
especially  write-ups  of  vaudeville  shows,  is  paid  for 
and  must  contain  nothing  but  praise.  Sometimes  it 
is  necessary  to  praise  the  poorest  production  sim- 
ply because  the  paper  is  receiving  so  much  a  column 
for  the  praise.  In  many  other  cases,  when  the  copy 
is  not  paid  for,  the  editor  often  considers  it  only 
fair  to  give  the  production  a  little  puff  in  return 
for  the  free  press  tickets.  And  so  a  large  share 
of  any  reporter's  dramatic  criticism  is  reduced  to 
selecting  things  that  he  can  praise.  Yet,  one  cannot 
praise  in  a  way  that  is  too  evident ;  he  cannot  simply 
say  "The  play  was  good ;  the  staging  was  good ;  the 
acting  was  good;  in  fact,  everything  was  good." 

263 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 


He  must  praise  more  cleverly  and  give  his  copy 
the  appearance  of  honest  criticism.  Perhaps  the 
principle  is  wrong,  but  nevertheless  it  exists  and 
happy  is  the  dramatic  critic  whose  paper  allows  him 
to  say  exactly  what  he  thinks.  However,  whether 
one  may  say  what  he  thinks  or  must  say  what  his 
editor  wants  him  to  say,  he  must  have  as  his  back- 
ground a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  stage  upon 
which  he  may  base  a  comparison  or  a  contrast  and 
with  which  he  may  make  intelligent  statements. 
The  following  illustrates  what  may  be  done  with  a 
paid  report  of  a  mediocre  vaudeville  show  in  which 
every  act  must  be  praised — the  report  was  written 
on  Monday  of  a  week's  run  and  is  intended  to  in- 
duce people  to  see  the  show: 

This    week's    bill    at  Vaudeville 

Theatre  is  dashed  onto  the  boards  by  a 
very  exciting  act,  "The  Flying  Martins," 
whose  thrilling  tricks  put  the  audience 
in  a  proper  state  of  mind  for  the  spark- 
ling and  laughable  program  that  follows 
— a  state  of  mind  that  keeps  its  high 
pitch  without  a  break  or  let-down  to  the 
very  end  of  Dr.  Herman's  side-splitting 
electrical  pranks.  This  man,  who  has 
truly  "tamed  electricity,"  does  many  re- 
markable things  with  his  big  coils  and 
high  voltage  currents  and  plays  many 
extremely  funny  tricks  upon  his  row  of 
"unsuspecting-handsome"  young  volun- 
teers. 

264 


DRAMATIC    REPORTING 

The  musical  little  playlet,  "The  Barn 
Dance,"  is  very  jokingly  carried  off  by 
its  Jack-of-all-Trades,  "Zeke,"  the  con- 
stable, and  its  pretty  little  ensemble  song, 
"I'll  Build  a  Nest  for  You."  Many  a 
young  husband  can  get  pointers  on 
"home  rule"  from  "Baseballitis ;"  it  is  a 
mighty  good  presentation  of  the  "My 
Hero"  theme  in  actual  life.  Hilda  Haw- 
thorne gives  us  some  high-class  ventrilo- 
quism with  a  good  puppet  song  that  is 
truly  wonderful.  There's  a  lot  of  good 
music,  very  good  music  in  the  sketch 
executed  by  "The  Three  Vagrants,"  as 
well  as  a  lot  of  fun;  one  can  hardly 
realize  what  an  amount  of  melody  an 
old  accordion  contains.  Audrey  Prin- 
gle  and  George  Whiting  have  a  hit  that 
is  sparkling  with  quick  changes  from 
Irish  love  songs  to  bull  frog  croaking 
with  Italian  variations. 

For  the  purpose  of  a  more  complete  study  of 
the  subject,  however,  we  shall  consider  only  dra- 
matic criticism  that  is  not  restricted  by  editorial 
dictum  or  by  the  requirements  of  paid-space.  That 
is,  we  shall  imagine  that  we  can  praise  or  condemn 
or  say  anything  we  please  concerning  the  dramatic 
production  which  we  are  to  report.  When  we  look 
at  the  subject  in  this  way  there  are  some  positive 
things  that  may  be  said  about  theatrical  reporting, 
but  there  are  many  more  negative  rules,  that  may 
be  reduced  to  mere  "Don'ts."  The  same  principles 

265 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

hold  good  in  dramatic  criticism  that  is  hampered 
by  policy,  but  to  a  less  degree. 

In  the  first  place,  the  one  thing  that  a  dramatic 
reporter  must  have  when  he  begins  to  write  his 
copy  after  the  performance  is  some  positive  idea 
about  the  play,  some  definite  criticism,  upon  which 
to  base  his  whole  report.  It  is  impossible  to  write 
a  coherent  report  from  chance  jottings  and  to  con- 
fine the  report  to  saying  "This  was  good;  that  was 
bad,  the  other  was  mediocre."  The  critic  must 
have  a  positive  central  idea  upon  which  to  hang  his 
criticism.  This  central  idea  plays  the  same  part 
in  his  report  as  the  feature  in  a  news .  story — it  is 
the  feature  of  his  report  which  he  brings  into  the 
first  sentence,  to  which  he  attaches  every  item,  and 
with  which  he  ends  his  report.  To  secure  this  idea, 
the  reporter  must  watch  the  play  closely  with  the 
purpose  of  crystallizing  his  judgment  in  a  single 
conception,  thought,  or  impression.  Sometimes  this 
impression  comes  as  an  inspiration,  sometimes  it  is 
the  result  of  hard  thought  during  or  after  the  play. 
It  may  be  concerned  with  the  theme  of  the  play, 
the  playwright's  work,  the  lines,  the  staging,  the 
effects,  the  tricks,  the  acting  as  a  whole,  the  acting 
of  single  persons,  the  music,  the  dancing,  the  cos- 
tumes— anything  connected  with  the  production — 
but  the  idea  must  be  big  enough  to  carry  the  entire 

266 


DRAMATIC    REPORTING 

report  and  to  be  the  gist  of  what  the  critic  has  to 
say  about  the  play.  It  must  be  his  complete,  concise 
opinion  of  the  performance. 

When,  as  the  critic  watches  the  play,  some  idea 
comes  to  him  for  his  report  he  should  jot  it  down. 
As  the  play  progresses  he  should  develop  this  idea 
and  watch  for  details  that  carry  it  out.  There  is 
no  reason  to  be  ashamed  of  taking  notes  in  the 
theater  and  the  notes  will  prove  very  useful  at  the 
office  afterward.  Perhaps  after  the  play  is  over 
the  critic  finds  that  his  jottings  contain  another 
idea  that  is  of  greater  importance  than  the  first; 
then  he  may  incorporate  the  second  into  the  first  or 
discard  the  first  altogether.  Even  after  one  has 
crystallized  his  judgment  into  a  concise  opinion  he 
must  elaborate  and  illustrate  it  and  the  program  of 
the  play  is  always  of  value  in  enabling  one  to  refer 
definitely  to  the  individual  actors,  characters,  and 
other  persons,  by  name.  But,  however  complete  the 
final  judgment  and  the  notes  may  be,  it  is  always 
well  to  write  the  report  immediately.  When  one 
leaves  the  theater  his  mind  is  teeming  with  things  to 
say  about  the  play,  thousands  of  them,  but  after  a 
night's  sleep  it  is  doubtful  if  a  single  full-grown 
idea  will  remain  and  the  jottings  will  be  absolutely 
lifeless  and  unsuggestive. 

This  is  the  positive  instruction  that  may  be  given 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

to  young  dramatic  critics.  It  is  so  important  and 
is  unknown  to  so  many  young  theatrical  reporters, 
that  it  may  be  well  to  sum  it  up  again.  A  dramatic 
criticism  must  be  coherent;  it  must  be  unified.  It 
must  be  the  embodiment  of  a  single  idea  about  the 
play  and  every  detail  in  the  report  must  be  attached 
to  that  idea.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  state  the  idea 
in  a  clever  way ;  it  must  be  expanded  and  elaborated 
with  examples  and  reasons  and  must  show  careful 
thought.  It  is  well  to  outline  the  report  before  it 
is  written  and  to  arrange  a  logical  sequence  of 
thought  so  that  the  result  may  be  well-rounded  and 
coherent. 

The  following  is  an  example  of  a  dramatic  criti- 
cism in  which  this  course  is  followed.  It  neither 
praises  nor  condemns  but  it  points  out  gently 
wherein  the  play  is  strong  or  weak — and  every  sen- 
tence is  attached  to  one  central  idea: 

A  POLITE  LITTLE  PLAY. 

Never  raise  your  voice,  my  dear  Gerald.  That  is  the 
only  thing  left  to  distinguish  us  from  the  lower  classes. 
Lord  Wynlea  in  "The  Best  People". 

The  new  comedy  at  the  Lyric  Theatre 
is  written  in  accordance  with  Lord 
Wynlea's  dictum  quoted  above.  It  is 
mannerly,  well  poised,  ingratiating  and 
deft.  As  a  minor  effort  in  the  high 
comedy  style  it  is  welcome,  because  it 
affords  a  respite  from  the  "plays  with 
a  punch"  and  the  prevalent  boisterous 
specimens  of  the  work  of  yeomen  who 

268 


DRAMATIC    REPORTING 

go  at  the  art  of  dramatic  writing  with 
main  strength. 

"The  Best  People"  is  by  Frederick 
Lonsdale  and  Frank  Curzen,  who  mani- 
festly know  some  of  them.  It  was  done 
at  Wyndham's  Theatre  in  London,  and 
we  think  that  in  a  comfortable  English 
playhouse,  with  tea  between  acts  and 
leisurely  persons  with  whom  to  visit  in 
the  foyer,  it  would  make  an  agreeable 
matinee.  Certainly  it  is  admirably  act- 
ed here,  and,  as  has  been  intimated,  its 
quiet  drollery  and  its  polite  maneuver- 
ing make  it  a  relief. 

Whether  American  audiences,  used  to 
stronger  fare  than  tea  at  the  theatre, 
will  find  it  sustaining  is  a  question  that 
would  seem  to  be  answered  by  the  an- 
nouncement, just  received  from  the 
Lyric,  that  the  engagement  closes  next 
Saturday  evening. 

The  fable  relates  how  the  Honorable 
Mrs.  Bayle  discovered  that  her  husband 
and  Lady  Ensworth  had  been  flirting 
with  peril  during  her  absence  in  Egypt, 
how  she  blithely  threw  them  much  to- 
gether, with  the  result  that  they  grew 
intensely  weary  of  each  other,  and  how 
at  last  everybody  concerned  was  hap- 
pily and  sensibly  reconciled. 

The  spirit  of  the  piece  is  sane  and 
"nice,"  the  decoration  of  it  whimsical 
and  graceful. 

Miss  Lucille  Watson,  embodying  the 
spirit  of  witty  mischief,  gives  a  very 
fine  performance  of  the  part  of  Mrs. 
Bayle,  a  "smart,"  good  woman,  and  Miss 

269 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

Ruth  Shepley  is  excellent  in  byplay  and 
flutter  as  a  silly,  good  woman. 

Cyril  Scott  is  graceful  and  vigorous 
as  a  philandering  husband,  Dallas  An- 
derson comical  as  a  London  clubman 
with  a  keener  relish  in  life  than  he  is 
willing  to  betray,  and  William  McVey 
wise,  paternal  and  weighty  in  that  kind 
of  a  part. 

"The  Best  People"  is  a  pleasant  spring 
fillip. 

The  first  admonition  in  theatrical  reporting  is 
"Don't  resume  the  plot  or  tell  the  story  of  the 
play."  This  is  almost  all  that  many  dramatic  re- 
porters try  to  do,  because  it  is  the  easiest  thing  to 
do  and  requires  the  least  thought.  But,  after  all,  it 
is  usually  valueless.  The  story  of  the  play  does 
not  interest  readers  who  have  already  seen  the  play 
and  it  spoils  the  enjoyment  of  the  play  for  those 
who  intend  to  see  it.  The  usual  purpose  of  any 
theatrical  report  is  to  criticize,  but  a  report  that 
simply  resumes  the  story  of  the  play  is  not  a  criti- 
cism; hence  space  devoted  to  the  story  is  usually 
wasted.  To  be  sure,  this  admonition  must  be  quali- 
fied. If  the  development' of  the  critic's  judgment  of 
the  play  requires  a  resume  of  the  story,  there  is  then 
a  reason  for  outlining  the  action.  However,  even 
then,  the  outline  should  be  very  brief. 

The  following  is  a  typical  example  of  the  usual 
270 


DRAMATIC    REPORTING 

dramatic  reporting  which  is  satisfied  when  it  has 
told  the  story  of  the  play.  In  this,  the  first  two 
sentences  are  a  very  bald  attempt  to  repay  the  man- 
ager for  his  tickets.  The  resume  of  the  story,  given 
very  obviously  to  fill  space,  is  not  of  any  critical 
value.  The  only  real  criticism  is  at  the  end  and 
is  inadequate  because  the  praise  is  given  without 
reason. 


Grace  George  and  her  small  but  ex- 
cellent company  of  artists  added  one 
more  to  their  long  list  of  successful 
performances  last  night  in  the  produc- 
tion of  Geraldine  Bonner's  clever  com- 
edy of  modern  life,  "Sauce  for  the 

Goose,"  at  the Theatre.    That  the 

moody  and  sparkling  Miss  George  has 
a  good  claim  to  the  title  of  America's 
leading  comedienne,  no  one  who  saw 
the  performance  last  evening  could 
deny.'  In  this  piece  she  is  cast  for  the 
part  of  Kitty  Constable,  who  is  in  the 
third  year  of  her  married  life  and  liv- 
ing with  her  husband  in  New  York  City. 
Mr.  Constable  has  been  engaged  in 
writing  a  book  on  the  emancipation  of 
woman  and  as  a  result  has  come  to  neg- 
lect his  pretty  little  wife  and  seek  the 
companionship  of  a  certain  woman  of 
great  intellect,  Mrs.  Alloway,  who  leads 
him  on  by  an  affected  sympathy  with 
his  work.  He  chides  his  wife  for  her 
seeming  negligence  of  the  culture  of  her 
mind,  telling  her  that  she  lacks  grey 

271 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

matter.  The  climax  comes  when  Mr. 
Constable  tries  to  get  away  from  his 
wife  on  the  evening  of  their  wedding 
anniversary  to  dine  with  Mrs.  Alloway. 
Kitty  tries  the  emancipated  woman  idea 
and  goes  to  the  opera  with  another  man 
and  has  dinner  with  him  in  his  apart- 
ments. She  lets  her  husband  know  of 
her  plans  and  he  comes  to  the  room 
in  a  rage.  By  thus  playing  first  on  his 
jealousy  and  then  by  ridiculing  his 
ideas,  she  wins  him  back  to  herself.  The 
company  was  made  up  of  artists  and 
there  was  not  a  crude  spot  in  the  whole 
performance.  The  part  of  Harry  Tra- 
vers4  the  friend  of  Mrs.  Constable's,  was 
excellently  done  by  Frederick  Perry,  as 
was  that  of  Mr.  Constable  by  Herbert 
Percy.  Probably  the  most  difficult  char- 
acter in  the  play  to  portray  was  that  of 
the  "woman's  rights"  woman,  Mrs.  Al- 
loway, which  was  most  admirably  done 
by  Edith  Wakeman. 


The  word  criticism  must  not  lead  the  reporter  to 
think  that,  as  a  critic,  his  only  function  is  to  find 
fault.  To  criticize  may  mean  to  praise  as  well  as 
to  condemn.  If  the  critic  is  not  restricted  by  the 
policy  of  his  paper,  he  should  be  as  willing  to 
praise  as  to  condemn,  and  vice  versa.  But  which- 
ever course  he  takes  he  must  be  ready  to  defend  his 
criticism  and  to  tell  why  he  praises  or  why  he  con- 
demns. There  is  always  a  tendency  to  praise  a  play 

272 


DRAMATIC    REPORTING 

in  return  for  the  free  tickets;  this  should  be  put 
aside  absolutely.  The  critic  owes  something  to  the 
public  as  well  as  to  the  manager.  If  the  play  seems 
to  him  to  be  bad,  he  must  say  so  without  hesitation 
and  he  must  tell  why  it  is  bad.  Too  many  really 
bad  plays  are  immensely  advertised  by  a  critic's  un- 
defended statement  that  they  are  not  fit  to  be  seen. 
Had  the  critic  given  definite  reasons  for  his  con- 
demnation, his  criticism  might  have  accomplished 
its  purpose.  In  the  same  way  it  is  useless  to  say 
simply  that  a  play  is  good.  Its  good  points  must 
be  enumerated  and  the  reader  must  be  told  why  it 
is  good. 

However,  criticism  must  be  written  with  delicacy. 
If  your  heart  tells  you  to  praise,  praise;  if  your 
heart  tells  you  to  condemn,  condemn  with  care. 
Remember  that  your  condemnation  may  put  the 
play  off  the  boards  or  at  least  hurt  its  success,  and 
there  must  be  sufficient  reason  for  such  radical  ac- 
tion. The  critic's  debt  to  the  public  is  large,  but 
he  owes  some  consideration  to  the  manager.  He 
must  hesitate  before  he  says  anything  that  may  ruin 
the  manager's  business.  Critics  very  often  condemn 
a  play  for  trivial  reasons;  they  feel  indisposed,  per- 
haps because  their  dinner  has  not  agreed  with  them, 
the  play  does  not  fit  into  their  mood  and  they  turn 
in  a  half  column  of  ruinous  condemnation.  Perhaps 

273 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 
i 
they  like  a  certain  kind  of  production — farces,  for 

instance — and  systematically  vent  their  ire  on  every 
tragedy  and  every  musical  comedy.  They  do  not 
use  perspective;  they  do  not  judge  the  stage  as 
a  whole.  No  matter  how  poor  a  play  is  or  how 
much  a  critic  dislikes  it,  he  must  consider  what 
the  stage  people  are  trying  to  do  and  judge  accord- 
ingly. In  many  cases  it  is  not  the  individual  play 
that  deserves  adverse  criticism,  but  the  kind  of  play. 
All  of  these  things  must  be  considered;  every  dra- 
matic critic  must  have  perspective.  He  must  be  fair 
to  the  stage  people  and  to  the  public ;  his  influence  is 
greater  than  he  may  imagine. 

No  matter  how  strong  the  occasion  for  condem- 
nation may  be,  the  dramatic  critic  is  never  justified 
in  speaking  bitterly.  The  poor  production  is  not 
a  personal  offense  against  him  nor  against  the  pub- 
lic. It  is  simply  a  bad  or  an  unworthy  attempt  and 
his  duty  is  confined  to  pointing  how  or  why  it  is 
not  worthy.  That  does  not  mean  that  he  is  justi- 
fied in  using  bitter,  abusive,  or  even  sarcastic  lan- 
guage. It  is  great  sport  to  make  fun  of  things  and 
to  exercise  one's  wits  at  some  one's  else  expense — 
it  is  also  easy — but  that  is  not  dramatic  criticism. 
The  public  asks  the  critic  to  tell  them  calmly  and 
fairly,  even  coldly,  the  reasons  for  or  against  a  pro- 
duction— the  reasons  why  they  should,  or  should 

274 


DRAMATIC    REPORTING 

not,  spend  their  money  to  see  it — bitter  sarcasm 
overreaches  the  mark.  Just  as  soon  as  a  critic 
tries  to  be  personal  in  his  remarks  on  a  play  he 
is  exceeding  his  prerogative  and  is  open  to  serious 
criticism  himself. 

The  necessary  attributes  of  a  dramatic  reporter, 
as  we  -have  seen,  are :  fairness,  logical  thinking,  and 
a  background  of  stage  knowledge.  And  of  these 
three,  the  background  is  of  the  greatest  importance; 
it  is  the  stimulus  and  the  check  for  the  other  two. 
The  more  a  critic  can  know  about  every  phase  of  the 
theatrical  profession,  contemporary  or  historical,  the 
better  will  be  his  criticisms.  The  more  knowledge 
of  the  stage  that  his  copy  shows,  the  more  greedily 
will  his  readers  look  for  his  "Theatrical  News" 
each  day.  However  clear  his  idea  of  a  play  may 
be  he  cannot  express  it  clearly  and  readably  with- 
out a  background  of  other  plays  to  refer  to.  And, 
by  the  same  sign,  a  wealth  of  allusions  and  a  quan- 
tity of  .theatrical  lore  will  often  carry  a  critic  past 
many  a  play  concerning  which  he  is  unable  to  form 
a  clear  opinion.  To  develop  your  ability  as  a  dra- 
matic reporter,  watch  the  theatrical  criticisms  in 
reputable  dailies  and  weeklies  and  learn  from  them. 


19 


XVII 

STYLE   BOOK 

Being  a  copy  of  the  Style  Book  compiled  for  the 
Course  in   Journalism    of   the    University   of 
Wisconsin  from  the  style  books  of  many  news- 
papers. 
1.  Capitalize: 

All  proper  nouns:  Smith,  Madison,  Wisconsin. 

Months  and  days  of  the  week,  but  not  the  seasons 
of  the  year:  April,  Monday;  but  autumn. 

The  first  word  of  every  quotation,  enumerated  list, 
etc.,  following  a  colon. 

The  principal  words  in  the  titles  of  books,  plays, 
lectures,  pictures,  toasts,  etc.,  including  the  initial 
"a"  or  "the":  "The  Merchant  of  Venice," 
"Fratres  in  Urbe."  If  a  preposition  is  attached 
to  or  compounded  with  the  verb  capitalize  the 
preposition  also :  "Voting  For  the  Right  Man." 

The  names  of  national  political  bodies :  House, 
Senate,  Congress,  the  Fifty-first  Congress. 

The  names  of  national  officers,  national  departments, 
etc. :     President,   Vice  President,   Navy  Depart- 
ment, Department  of  Justice  (but  not  bureau  of 
labor),  White  House,  Supreme  Court   (and  all 
276 


STYLE   BOOK 

courts),  the  Union,  Stars  and  Stripes,  Old  Glory, 
Union  Jack,  United  States  army,  Declaration  of 
Independence,  the  (U.  S.)  Constitution,  United 
Kingdom,  Dominion  of  Canada. 

All  titles  preceding  a  proper  noun :  President  Taft, 
Governor-elect  Wilson,  ex-President  Roosevelt, 
Policeman  O'Connor. 

The  entire  names  of  associations,  societies,  leagues, 
clubs,  companies,  roads,,  lines,  and  incorporated 
bodies  generally:  Mason,  Odd  Fellow,  Knights 
Templar,  Grand  Lodge  of  Knights  of  Pythias, 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  Wiscon- 
sin University,  First  National  Bank,  Schlitz 
Brewing  Company  (but  the  Schlitz  brewery), 
Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company,  Chicago 
and  Northwestern  Railway  Company,  the  Asso- 
ciation of  Passenger  and  Ticket  Agents  of  the 
Northwest,  Clover  Leaf  Line,  Rock  Island  Road, 
Chicago  Board  of  Trade,  New  York  Stock  Ex- 
change (but  the  board  of  trade  and  the  stock 
exchange). 

The  names  of  all  religious  denominations,  etc. : 
Catholic,  Protestant,  Mormon,  Spiritualist,  Chris- 
tian Science,  First  Methodist  Church  (but  a  Meth- 
odist church),  the  Bible,  the  Koran,  Christian, 
Vatican,  Quirinal,  Satan,  the  pronouns  of  the 
Deity. 

The  names  of  all  political  parties  (both  domestic 
and  foreign)  :  Republican,  Socialism,  Socialist, 
Democracy,  Populist,  Free  Silverite,  Labor  party, 
(but  anarchist).  . 

277 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

Sections  of  the  country :    the  North,  the  East,  South 

America;  southern  Europe. 
Nicknames  of  states  and  cities :    The  Buckeye  State, 

the  Hub,  the  Windy  City. 
The  names  of  sections  of  a  city  and  branches  of  a 

river,  etc. :  the  East  Side,  the  North  Branch. 
The  names  of  stocks  in  the  money  market:     Supe- 
rior Copper,  Fourth  Avenue  Elevated. 
The  names  of  French  streets  and  places :    Rue  de  la 

Paix,  Place  de  la  Concorde. 
Names     of     automobiles:       Peerless,     the     White 

Steamer,  Pierce  Arrow. 
Names  of  holidays:      Fourth  of   July,   Christmas, 

New  Year's  day,  Thanksgiving  day. 
Names  of  military  organizations :     First  Wisconsin 

Volunteers,    Twenty-third   Wisconsin   Regiment, 

Second  Army  Corps,  second  division  Sixth  Army 

Corps,  National  Guard,  Ohio  State  Militia,  First 

Regiment  armory,   the  militia,   Grand  Army   of 

the  Republic. 
The   names  of  all  races  and   nationalities    (except 

negro)  :  American,  French,  Spanish,  Chinaman. 
The  nicknames  of  baseball  clubs :  the  White  Sox, 

the  Cubs. 
Miscellaneous :     la  France,  Irish  potatoes,  Enfield 

rifle,  American  Beauty  roses. 

2.  Capitalize  when  following  a  proper  noun: 
Bay,  block,  building,  canal,  cape,  cemetery,  church, 
city,  college,  county,  court  (judicial),  creek,  dam, 
empire,  falls,  gulf,  hall,  high  school,  hospital,  hotel, 
house,  island,  isthmus,  kindergarten,  lake,  mountain, 


STYLE   BOOK 

ocean,  orchestra,  park,  pass,  peak,  peninsula,  point, 
range,  republic,  river,  square,  school,  state,  strait, 
shoal,  sea,  slip,  theatre,  university,  valley,  etc. : 
South  Hall,  Park  Hotel,  Hayes  Block,  Singer  Build- 
ing, Dewey  School,  South  Division  High"  School, 
Superior  Court,  New  York  Theatre,  Beloit  College, 
Wisconsin  University,  Capitol  Square. 

3.  Do  not  capitalize  when  following  a  proper  name : 
Addition,  avenue,  boulevard,  court  (a  short  street), 
depot,   "elevator,    mine,    place,    station,    stockyards, 
street,  subdivision,  ward,  etc. :    Northwestern  depot, 
Pinckney    street    station,    Third    ward,    Harmony 
court,    Amsterdam   avenue,    Broad    street,    Wingra 
addition,  Washington  boulevard,  Winchester  place. 

4.  Capitalize  when  preceding  a  proper  noun: — All 
titles  denoting  rank,  occupation,  relation,  etc.    (do 
not  capitalize  them  when  they   follow  the  noun)  : 
alderman,  ambassador,  archbishop,  bishop,  brother, 
captain,   cardinal,   conductor,    congressman,   consul, 
commissioner,    councilman,    count,    countess,    czar, 
doctor,  duke,  duchess,  earl,  emperor,  empress,  engi- 
neer,   father,   fireman,   governor,   her   majesty,   his 
honor,  his  royal  highness,  judge,  mayor,  motorman, 
minister,  officer,  patrolman,  policeman,  pope,  prince, 
princess,  professor,  queen,  representative,  right  rev- 
erend, senator,  sheriff,  state's  attorney,  sultan:  Al- 
derman John  Smith   (but  John  Smith,  alderman), 
Senator  La  Follette  (but  Mr.  La  Follette,  senator 
from  Wisconsin). 

The  same  rule  applies  when  the  following  words 
precede  a  proper  noun  as  part  of  a  name :  bay,  cape, 

279 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

city,  college,  county,  empire,  falls,  gulf,  island,  point, 
sea,  state,  university,  etc. :  City  of  New  York,  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  University  of  Wisconsin,  College  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons. 

5.  Do  not  capitalize: 

The  names  of  state  bodies,  etc. :  the1  senate,  house, 
congress,  speaker,  capitol,  executive  mansion,  re- 
vised statutes.  (These  are  capitalized  only  when 
they  refer  to  the  national  government :  e.  g.,  the 
capitol  at  Madison,  the  Capitol  at  Washington.) 
The  names  of  city  boards,  departments,  buildings, 
etc. :  boards,  bureaus,  commissions,  committees, 
titles  of  ordinance,  acts,  bills,  postoffice,  court- 
house (unless  preceded  by  proper  noun),  city 
hall,  almshouse,  poorhouse,  house  of  correction, 
county  hospital,  the  council,  city  council,  district, 
precinct :  e.  g.,  the  fire  department,  the  tax  com- 
mittee. 

Certain   other   governmental   terms :      federal,    na- 
tional, and  state  government,  armory,  navy,  army, 
signal  service,  custom-house. 
Points   of  the   compass:   east,    west,   north,   south, 

northeast,  etc. 

The  names  of  foreign  bodies :  mansion-house,  par- 
liament, reichstag,  landtag,  duma. 
Common  religious  terms :  the  word  of  God,  holy 
writ,  scriptures,  the  gospel,  heaven,  sacred  writ- 
ings, heathen,  Christendom,  christianize,  papacy, 
papal  see,  atheist,  high  church,  church  and  state, 
etc. 

280 


STYLE   BOOK 

The  court,  witness,  speaker  of  the  chair,  in  dia- 
logues. 

Scientific  names  of  plants,  animals,  and  birds:  for- 
mica rufa. 

a.  m.,  p.  m.,  and  m.  (meaning  a  thousand) ;  "ex-" 
preceding  a  title. 

The  names  of  college  classes :  freshman,  sophomore. 

College  degrees  when  spelled  out :  bachelor  of  arts ; 
but  B.  A. 

Seasons  of  the  year :  spring,  autumn,  etc. 

Officers  in  local  organizations  (election  of  officers)  ; 
president,  secretary,  etc. 

Certain  common  nouns  formed  from  proper  nouns: 
street  arab,  prussic  acid,  prussian  blue,  paris  green, 
china  cup,  india  rubber,  cashmere  shawl,  half 
russia,  morocco  leather,  epsom  salts,  japanned 
ware,  plaster  of  paris,  brussels  and  wilton  carpets, 
valenciennes  and  chantilly  lace,  vandyke  collar, 
valentine,  philippic,  socratic,  herculean,  guillotine, 
derby  hat,  gatling  gun. 
6.  Punctuation: 

Omit  periods  after  nicknames :  Tom,  Sam,  etc. 

Always  use  a  period  between  dollars  and  cents  and 
after  per  cent.,  but  never  after  c,  s,  and  d,  when 
they  represent  cents,  shillings,  and  pence:  $1.23, 
10  per  cent.,  2s  6d. 

Punctuate  the  votes  in  balloting  thus:  Yeas,  2; 
nays,  3. 

Punctuate  lists  of  names  with  the  cities  or  states 
to  which  the  individuals  belong  thus:     Messrs. 
Smith  of  Illinois,  Samson  of  West  Virginia,  etc. 
281 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

If  the  list  contains  more  than  three  names,  omit 
the  "of"  and  punctuate  thus:  Smith,  Illinois; 
Samson,  West  Virginia;  etc.  Where  a  number 
of  names  occurs  with  the  office  which  they  hold, 
use  commas  and  semicolons,  thus :  J.  S.  Hall, 
governor;  Henry  Overstoltz,  mayor;  etc. 

Never  use  a  colon  after  viz.,  to  wit,  namely,  e.  g., 
etc.,  except  when  they  end  a  paragraph.  Use  a 
colon,  dash,  or  semicolon  before  them  and  com- 
mas after  them,  thus:  This  is  the  man;  to  wit, 
the  victim. 

"Such  as"  should  follow  a  comma  and  have  no  point 
after  it:  "He  saw  many  things,  such  as  men, 
horses,  etc." 

Set  lists  of  names  thus  without  points: 
Mesdames —  George  V.  King 

Charles  C.  Knapp          Henry  A.  Lloyd 
John  H.  Cole  Jr. 

Do  not  use  a  comma  between  a  man's  name  and  the 
title  "Jr."  or  "Sr."  as  John  Jones  Jr. 

Use  the  apostrophe  to  mark  elision :  I've,  'tis,  don't, 
can't,  won't,  canst,  couldst,  dreamt,  don'ts,  won'ts, 
'8os. 

Use  the  apostrophe  in  possessives  and  use  it  in  the 
proper  place :  the  boy's  clothes,  boys'  clothes, 
Burns'  poems,  Fox's  Martyrs,  Agassiz's  works, 
ours,  yours,  theirs,  hers,  its  (but  "it's"  for  it  is). 
George  and  John's  father  was  a  good  man ;  Jack's 
and  Samuel's  fathers  were  not. 

Do  not  use  the  apostrophe  when  making  a  plural 
of  figures,  etc. :  all  the  33,  the  Three  Rs. 
282 


STYLE   BOOK 

Do  not  use  the  apostrophe  in  Frisco,  phone,  varsity, 
bus. 

Use  an  em  dash  after  a  man's  name  when  placed  at 
the  beginning  in  reports  of  interviews,  speeches, 
dialogues,  etc. :  John  Jones — I  have  nothing  to 
say.  (No  quotation  marks.) 

In  a  sentence  containing  words  inclosed  in  parenthe- 
ses, punctuate  as  if  the  part  in  parentheses  were 
omitted :  if  there  is  any  point  put  it  after  the  last 
parenthesis. 

Use  brackets  to  set  off  any  expression  or  remark 
thrown  into  a  speech  or  quotation  and  not  orig- 
inally in  it :  "The  Republican  party  is  again  in 
power — [cheers] — and  is  come  to  stay." 

Use  the  .conjunction  "and"  and  a  comma  before  the 
last  name  in  a  list  of  names,  etc. :  John,  George, 
James,  and  Henry. 

Use  no  commas  in  such  expressions  as  6  feet  3  inches 
tall,  3  years  6  months  old,  2  yards  4  inches  long. 

Punctuate  scores  as  follows :  Wisconsin  8,  Chi- 
cago o. 

Punctuate  times  in  races,  etc. :  loo-yard  dash — 
Smith,  first;  Jones,  second.  Time,  0:10  1-5. 

Peters  carried  the  ball  thirty  yards  to  the  lo-yard 
line.  , 

7.  Date  lines: 

Punctuate  date  lines  as  follows: 

MADISON,  Wis.,  Jan.  25.- 

Do  not  use  the  name  of  the  state  after  the  names 
of  the  larger  cities  of  the  country,  such  as  New 
283 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

York,  Chicago,  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore, 
San  Francisco,  Seattle.     Abbreviate  the  names  of 
months  which  have  more  than  five  letters. 
8.  Quoting: 

Quote  all  extracts  and  quotations  set  in  the  same 
type  and  style  as  the  context,  but  do  not  quote 
extracts  set  in  smaller  type  than  the  context  or  set 
solid  in  separate  paragraphs  in  leaded  matter. 

Quote  all  dialogues  and  interviews,  unless  preceded 
by  the  name  of  the  speaker  or  by  "Question"  and 
"Answer" : 

"I  have  nothing  to  say,"  answered  Mr.  Smith. 
William  Smith — I  have  nothing  to  say. 
Question — Were  you  there? 
Answer — I  was. 

Quote  the  names  of  novels,  dramas,  paintings,  stat- 
uary, operas,  and  songs:  "The  Brass  Bowl,"  "II 
Trovatore." 

Quote  the  subjects  of  addresses,  lectures,  sermons, 
toasts,  mottoes,  articles  in  newspapers:  "The 
Great  Northwest,"  "Our  Interests." 

Be  sure  to  include  "The"  in  the  quotation  of  names 
of  books,  pictures,  plays,  etc. :  "The  Fire  King" ; 
not  the  "Fire  King";  unless  the  article  is  not  a 
part  of  the  name. 

Do  not  quote  the  names  of  theatrical  companies,  as 
Her  Atonement  Company. 

Do  not  quote  the  names  of  characters  in  plays,  as 
Shylock  in  "The  Merchant  of  Venice." 

Do  not  quote  the  names  of  newspapers.     In  edito- 
rials put  "The  Star"  in  italics,  but  in  "The  Kansas 
284 


STYLE   BOOK 

City  Star"  put  "Star"  in  italics  and  use  no  quo- 
tation marks. 

Do  not  quote  the  names  of  vessels,  fire  engines,  bal- 
loons, horses,  cattle,  dogs,  sleeping  cars. 
9.  Compounds  and  Divisions: 

Omit  the  hyphen  when  using  an  adverb  compounded 
with  -ly  before  a  participle :  a  newly  built  house. 

Use  a  hyphen  after  prefixes  ending  in  a  vowel  (ex- 
cept bi  and  tri)  when  using  them  before  a  vowel : 
co-exist.  When  using  such  a  prefix  before  a  con- 
sonant do  not  use  the  hyphen  except  to  distin- 
guish the  word  from  a  word  of  the  same  letters 
but  of  different  meaning :  correspondent,  but 
co-respondent  (one  called  to  answer  a  summons)  ; 
recreation,  but  re-create  (to  create  anew)  reform, 
but  re-form  (to  form  again);  re-enforced; 
biennial,  etc. 

Do  not  use  the  hyphen  in  the  names  of  rooms  when 
the  prefix  is  of  only  one  syllable :  bedroom,  court- 
room, bathroom,  etc.  (except  blue  room,  green 
room,  etc.). 

When  the  prefix  is  of  more  than  one  syllable 
use  the  hyphen.  Follow  the  same  rule  in  making 
compounds  of  house,  shop,  yard,  maker,  holder, 
keeper,  builder,  worker:  shipbuilder,  doorkeeper. 

In  dividing  at  the  end  of  a  line : 

Do  not  run  over  a  syllable  of  two  letters. 

Do  not  divide  N.  Y.,  M.  P.,  LL.  D.,  M.  D.,  a.  m., 

p.  m.,  etc. 

Do  not  divide  figures  thus :    i  ,-000,000 ;  but  thus 
i,ooo,-ooo. 

285 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

Do  not  divide  a  word  of  five  letters  or  less. 
10.  Figures: 

Use  figures  for  numbers  of  a  hundred  or  over,  ex- 
cept when  merely  a  large  or  indefinite  number 
is  intended :  twenty-three,  123,  about  a  thousand, 
a  dollar,  a  million,  millions,  a  thousand  to  one, 
from  four  to  five  hundred. 

Use  figures  for  numbers  of  less  than  100  when 
they  are  used  in  connection  with  larger  numbers : 
There  were  33  boys  and  156  girls;  there  were 
1 06  last  week  and  16  this  week. 

Use  figures  for  hours  of  the  day:  at  7  p.  m. ;  at 
8  :3<D  this  morning. 

Use  figures  for  clays  of  the  month:  April  30,  the 
22nd  of  May. 

Use  figures  for  ages:  he  was  12  years  old;  little 
2-year-old  John.  If  the  words  "2-year-old  John" 
begin  a  sentence  or  headline,  spell  out  the  age. 

Use  figures  for  dimensions,  prices,  degrees  of  tem- 
perature, per  cents.,  dates,  votes,  times  in  races, 
scores  in  baseball,  etc. :  3  feet  long,  $3 
a  yard,  76  degrees,  Jan.  14,  1906.  Time  of  race 
—2  :27. 

Use  figures  for  all  sums  of  money :  $24,  $5.06, 
75  cents. 

Use  figures  for  street  numbers:  1324  Grand  avenue. 

Use  figures  for  numbered  streets  and  avenues  above 
99th;  spell  out  below  looth:  123  Twenty-third 
avenue,  10  East  I26th  street. 

Use  figures  in  statistical  or  tabular  matter ;  never  use 
ditto  marks. 

286 


STYLE   BOOK 

Use  figures,  period,  and  en  quad  for  first,  second, 
etc.:  i.-,  2.-. 

Do  not  begin  a  sentence  or  paragraph  with  figures ; 
supply  a  word  if  necessary  or  spell  out:  At  10 
o'clock ;  Over  300  men. 

Do  not  use  the  apostrophe  to  form  plurals  of  figures : 
the  45,  rather  than  the  4's. 

In  all  texts  from  the  Bible  set  the  chapters  in  Roman 
numerals  and  the  verses  in  figures :  Matt.  xxii. 
37-40;  I.  John  v.  1-15.  In  Sunday  school  les- 
sons say  Verse  5. 

Say  three-quarters  of  i  per  cent. ;  not  J4  of  i  per 
cent. 

Set  tenths,  hundreds,  etc.,  in  decimals:  i.i ;  2.03. 
11.  Abbreviations: 

Abbreviate  the  following  titles  and  no  others,  when 
they  precede  a  name:   Rev.,   Dr.,   Mme.,   Mile., 
Mr.,  Mrs.,  Mgr.  (Monsignore),  M.   (Monsieur). 
Do  not  put  Mr.  before  a  name  when  the  Chris- 
tian name  is  given   except  in  society  news  and 
editorials :  Mr.  Johnson ;  but  Samuel  L.  Johnson. 
Supply  Mr.  in  all  cases  when  Rev.  is  used  with- 
out the  Christian  name :  Rev.  Henry  W.  Beecher ; 
but  Rev.  Mr.  Beecher. 

Never  use  "Honorable"  or  the  abbreviation 
thereof  except  with  foreign  names,  in  editorials, 
or  in  documents. 

Abbreviate  thus:  Wash.,  Mont.,  S.  D.,  N.  D.,  Wyo., 
Cal,  Wis.,  Colo.,  Ind.,  Id.,  Kan.,  Ariz.,  Okla., 
Me.  Do  not  abbreviate  Oregon,  Iowa,  Ohio, 
Utah,  Alaska,  or  Texas. 

287 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

Abbreviate  thus :  Madison,  Dane  County,  Wis. :  but 
Dane  County,  Wisconsin. 

Use  the  abbreviations  U.  S.  N.  and  U.  S.  A.  after 
a  proper  name. 

Y.  M.  C.  A.,  W.  C.  T.  U.,  M.  E.  are  good  abbre- 
viations. 

Abbreviate  names  of  months  when  preceding  date 
only  when  the  month  contains  more  than  five  let- 
ters :  Jan.  20 ;  but  April  20.  When  the  date  pre- 
cedes the  month  in  reading  matter  spell  it  out: 
the  1 3th  of  January;  the  26th  inst. 

Abbreviate  "Number"  before  figures:  No.  10. 

Abbreviate  contract,  article,  section,  question,  an- 
swer, after  the  first  in  bills,  by-laws,  testimony, 
etc.:  Section  i.,  Sec.  2.;  Question — ,  Answer — , 
Q.—  A.-. 

Do  not  abbreviate  railway,  company,  the  names  of 
streets,  wards,  avenues,  districts,  etc. :  Madison 
Street  Railway  Company;  State  street,  Monona 
avenue. 

Street  and  avenue  are  sometimes  abbreviated 
in  want-ads :  State-st,  Monona-av. 

Spell  out  numbered  streets  and  avenues  up  to 
looth:  Thirty- fourth  street,   I34th  street. 

Use  &  in  names  of  firms,  but  use  the  long  "and" 
in  names  of  railroads.  Use  Etc.  and  not  &c. ;  use 
Brothers  and  not  Bros,  (except  in  ads)  ;  use  & 
only  when  necessary  to  abbreviate  in  stocks. 

Do  not  abbreviate  the  names  of  political  parties  ex- 
cept in  election  returns,  then:  Dem.,  Rep.,  Soc., 
Lab.,  Ind.,  Pro.,  Un.  Cit. 
288 


STYLE   BOOK 

Put  in  necessary  commas  in  abbreviating  railroad 
names:  C,  M.  &  St.  P.  Ry.  (Chicago,  Milwaukee 
and  St.  Paul  Railway) ;  C.,  C.,  C.  &  St.  L.  R.  R. 
(Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  and  St.  Louis 
Railroad). 

Abbreviate  without  periods  in  market  review  and 
quotations :  25c,  bu,  brls,  tcs,  pkgs,  f  o  b,  p  t,  etc. 
Spell  out  centimes  except  when  given  thus: 

I  Of  2OC. 

Do  not  abbreviate  Fort  and  Mount:     Fort  Wayne, 
Mount  Vernon. 
12.  Preparation  of  Copy: 

Use  a  typewriter  or  write  legibly;  some  one  must 
read  your  copy. 

If  you  write  with  a  typewriter,  double  or  triple 
space  your  copy;  never  use  single  space. 

Don't  write  on  more  than  one  side  of  the  paper. 

Leave  sufficient  margin  for  corrections  and  leave  a 
space  at  the  top  of  the  first  page  for  headlines; 
leave  an  inch  at  the  top  of  each  page. 

Don't  put  more  than  one  story  on  a  single  sheet 
of  paper. 

Don't  trust  the  copy-reader  to  fill  in  blanks  or  to 
correct  misspelled  names.  If  you  write  by  hand 
print  out  proper  names  .as  legibly  as  possible ;  un- 
derscore u  and  overscore  n. 

Don't  assume  that  the  copy-reader,  the  proofreader, 
or  the  editor  will  punctuate  for  you,  or  elimi- 
nate all  superfluous  punctuation. 

Remember  that  uniformity  is  more  to  be  desired 
than  a  strict  following  of  style. 

289 


.  NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

Don't  turn  in  copy  without  re-reading  carefully  and 
verifying  all  names  and  addresses. 

Use  short  paragraphs ;  always  paragraph  the  lead 
separately;  indent  paragraphs  distinctly. 

Don't  write  over  figures  or  words;  scratch  out  and 
rewrite. 

Number  your  pages;  when  pages  are  inserted  use 
letters :  pages  2,  3a,  3b,  4,  5. 

A  circle  around  an  abbreviation  or  a  figure  indicates 
that  the  word  or  number  is  to  be  spelled  out.  A 
circle  around  a  spelled-out  word  or  number  in- 
dicates that  it  is  to  be  abbreviated  or  run  in  fig- 
ures. 

Mark  the  end  of  your  story,  thus  :     #     #      # 
13.  Don'ts: 

Don't  use  "Honorable"  or  abbreviations  thereof, 
except  in  extracts  from  speeches  or  documents,  in 
editorials,  or  before  foreign  names. 

Don't  add  final  s  to  afterward,  toward,  upward, 
downward,  backward,  earthward,  etc. 

Don't  use  "signed"  before  the  signature  of  a  letter 
or  document;  run  signature  in  caps. 

Don't  begin  a  sentence  or  paragraph  with  figures; 
insert  a  word  before  the  figures  or  spell  out. 

Don't  use  commas  in  dates  or  in  figures  which  de- 
note the  number  of  a  thing,  as  A.  D.  1908,  2324 
State  street,  Policy  33815 ;  in  other  cases  use  the 
comma,  as  $5,289;  1,236,400  people. 

Don't  forget  that  the  following  are  singular  and  re- 
quire singular  verbs :  sums  of  money,  as  $23  was 
invested;    United    States;    anybody,    everybody, 
290 


STYLE   BOOK 

somebody,  neither,  either,  none;  whereabouts,  as 
"His  whereabouts  is  known." 

Don't  forget  that  things  OCCUR  by  chance  or  ac- 
cident, and  that  things  TAKE  PLACE  by  ar- 
rangement. 

Don't  "sustain"  broken  legs  and  other  injuries. 

Don't  "administer"  punishment. 

Don't  confound  "audiences,"  "spectators,"  and  cas- 
ual "witnesses." 

Don't  say  "party"  for  "person." 

Don't  use  "suicide,"  "loan,"  "scare,"  as  verbs. 

Don't  use  "gotten";  it  is  questionable;  use  "got." 

Don't  use  "burglarize." 

Don't  use  "transpire"  for  "occur." 

Don't  use  "locate"  for  "find";  to  locate  a  thing  is 
to  place  it. 

Don't  use  "stopped"  for  "stayed":  He  stayed  at 
the  Central  Hotel. 

Don't  "tender"  receptions  nor  "render"  songs;  use 
simply  "give"  and  "sing." 

Don't  "put  in  an  appearance" ;  just  appear. 

Don't  use  "don't"  for  "doesn't." 

Don't  use  "stated"  for  "said." 

Don't  say  "per  day"  or  "per  year,"  but  "a  day," 
"a  year";  per  is  a  Latin  word  and  can  be  used 
only  before  a  Latin  noun,  as  "per  diem"  or  "per 
annum." 

Don't  say  "the  meeting  convened";  members  might 
convene  but  a  single  body  cannot. 

Don't  "claim  that"  anything  is  so ;  you  can  "claim" 
a  thing,  however. 

20 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

Don't  say  "Mrs.  Dr.  Smith,"  just  "Mrs.  Smith." 

Don't  say  "between"  when  more  than  two  are  men- 
tioned. 

Don't  use  "proven"  for  "proved." 

Don't  confound  "staid"  with  "stayed." 

Don't  say  "different  than,"  but   "different   from." 

Don't  split  infinitives  or  other  verbs. 

Don't  use  "onto." 

Don't  use  "babe"  or  "tot"  for  "baby"  or  "child." 

Don't  use  superlatives  when  you  can  help  it. 

Don't  use  trite  expressions  or  foreign  words  and 
phrases. 

Don't  use  "corner  of"  in  designating  street  loca- 
tion. 

Don't  say  "died  from  operation,"  but  "died  after 
operation" — to  avoid  danger  of  libel. 

Don't  get  the  very  habit. 

Don't  use  "couple  of"  instead  of  "two." 

Don't  use  Mr.  before  a  man's  full  name. 

Don't  use  slang  unless  it  is  fitting — which  is  sel- 
dom. 

Don't  mention  the  reporters,  singly  or  collect- 
ively, unless  it  is  necessary.  It  rarely  is. 

Don't  qualify  the  word  "unique";  a  thing  may  be 
"unique,"  but  it  cannot  be  "very  unique,"  "quite 
unique,"  "rather  unique,"  or  "more  unique." 

Don't  use  the  inverted  passive:  e.  g.,  "A  man  was 
given  a  dinner,"  "Smith  was  awarded  a  medal." 

Don't  concoct  long  and  improper  titles:  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  Smith,  Superintendent  of 
the  Insurance  Department  Jones,  Groceryman 
292 


STYLE   BOOK 

Brown.  If  the  title  is  long  put  it  after  the  man's 
name;  thus:  George  Smith,  justice  of  the  Su- 
preme Court. 

Don't  use  the  verb  "occur"  with  weddings,  recep- 
tions, etc.;  they  take  place  by  design  and  never 
unexpectedly. 

Don't  say  "a  number  of,"  if  you  can  help  it.  Be 
specific. 

Don't  use  the  word  "lady"  for  "woman,"  or  "gen- 
tleman" for  "man." 

Don't  say  "a  man  by  the  name  of  Smith,"  but  "a 
man  named  Smith." 

Don't  use  "depot"  for  "station" — railway  passen- 
ger station. 


APPENDIX  I 
SUGGESTIONS   FOR   STUDY 

These  Suggestions  for  Study  embody  the  method 
used  in  the  course  in  News  Story  Writing  in  the 
Course  in  Journalism  of  the  University  of  Wiscon- 
sin. The  text  of  the  several  chapters  corresponds 
to  the  lectures  that  are  given  in  preparation  for,  and 
in  connection  with,  the  study  of  the  various  kinds 
of  news  stories.  These  Suggestions  for  Study  cor- 
respond to  the  exercises  by  which  the  students  learn 
the  application  of  the  principles  embodied  in  the 
lectures.  Hence  these  suggestions  are  given  mainly 
from  the  instructor's  point  of  view;  however,  a 
slight  alteration  will  adapt  them  to  home  or  indi- 
vidual study.  Although  they  give  very  little  prac- 
tice in  news  gathering,  they  enable  the  student  to 
gain  practice  in  the  writing  of  news — in  accordance 
with  the  purpose  of  this  book.  The  reporter  who 
is  studying  the  business  in  a  newspaper  office  may 
use  them  to  advantage  in  connection  with  his  regu- 
lar work. 

294 


SUGGESTIONS    FOR    STUDY 

EXERCISES    FOR    THE    FIRST    CHAPTER 

1.  Collect  clippings  of  representative  news  stories, 
printed    in   the   daily   papers,    to    be    used   as 
models. 

2.  Keep  a  book  of  tips  of  expected  news  in  your 
town  or  city. 

3.  Study  news  stories  in  your  local  paper  and  try 
to   determine   from   what   source   the   original 
news  tip  came.    Try  to  discover  from  the  story 
the  routine  of  news  gathering  which  furnished 
the  facts. 

4.  In  the  same  stories  try  to  determine  what  per- 
sons were  interviewed ;  frame  the  questions  that 
the  reporter  might  have  asked  to   secure  the 
facts.     The  instructor  may  impersonate  vari- 
ous persons  in  a  given  news  story  and  have  the 
students  interview  him   for  the   facts;  this  is 
to  assist  the  student  in  learning  to  keep  the 
point  of  view  and  to  keep  him  from  asking 
ridiculous  questions. 

5.  Try  to  discover  what  stories  in  any  newspaper 
are  the  result  of  actual  reporting  by  staff  re- 
porters— point  out  where  the  others  come  from. 

6.  Notice  the  date  line  on  stories  that  come  from 
the  outside,  and  learn  its  form. 

EXERCISES  FOR  THE  SECOND  CHAPTER 

i.  Watch  for  local  stories  that  seem  to  be  worth 
sending  out;  determine  what  element  in  them 
makes  them  worth  sending  out;  calculate  how 

295 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

far   from   their   source   they   would   be   worth 
printing. 

2.  Study  the  news  value  of  stories  that  are  printed 
in  the  local  papers;  determine  why  they  were 
printed.     Look  for  the  same  things  in  stories 
with  date  lines  in  the  local  papers. 

3.  Determine  what  class  of  readers  any  given  news 
story  would  interest. 

4.  Notice  the  time  element  (timeliness)  in  news- 
paper stories. 

5.  Try  to  determine  the  radius  of  your  local  pa- 
per's  personal    news   sources :   how   near   the 
printing  office  one  must  live  to  be  worth  per- 
sonal mention. 

6.  Watch  for  local  stories  whose  news  value  de- 
pends upon  the  death  element,  upon  a  promi- 
nent name,  a  significant  loss  of  property,  mere 
unusualness,   human   interest,   or  personal  ap- 
peal; see  what  the  local  papers  do  with  these 
stories  and  whether  the  local  correspondents 
send  them  out. 

7.  Analyze  the  nature  of  the  personal  appeal  in 
stories  that  are  printed  only  for  their  personal 
appeal. 

8.  Notice  how  local  reasons  change  the  news  val- 
ues of  local  stories. 

9.  In  any  or  all  of  these  stories  determine  what 
the  feature  is.    Distinguish  between  the  funda- 
mental incident  which  the  story  reports  and  the 
additional   significant   feature   which   enhances 
the  news  value  of  the  fundamental  incident. 


SUGGESTIONS    FOR    STUDY 

EXERCISES    FOR    THE    THIRD    CHAPTER 

1.  Run  over  the  Style  Book  at  the  end  of  this 
book;  note  the  essential  points  in  newspaper 
style. 

2.  Give  the  principal  rules  for  the  preparation  of 
copy. 

3.  Glance  over  the  "Don'ts"  in  the  Style  Book. 

EXERCISES  FOR  THE  FOURTH  CHAPTER 

1.  Study  the  form  and  construction  of  news  sto- 
ries, especially  simple  fire  stories. 

2.  Pick  out  the  feature  of  each  story — the  addi- 
tional incident  in  the  story  which  increases  the 
news  value  of  the  story  itself — and  see  if  the 
striking  feature  has  been  played  up  to  best  ad- 
vantage. 

3.  Notice  how  the  reader's  customary  questions — 
what,  where,  when,  who,  how,  and  why — are 
answered  in  the  lead.     Make  a  list  of  the  an- 
swers in  any  given  story. 

EXERCISES    FOR   THE    FIFTH    CHAPTER 

1.  Collect  good  fire  stories  appearing  in  the  news- 
papers.     Study   the   construction   of   the   lead 
and  the  order  in  which  the  facts  are  presented 
in  the  body  of  each  story. 

2.  Write  the  leads  of  fire  stories.     The  chances 
are  that  actual  fires  will  seldom  occur  at  the 
time   when   the   student   wishes   to   study   the 

297 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

writing  of  fire  stories,  but  the  instructor  may 
give  his  class,  orally  or  in  writing,  the  facts 
of  a  fire  story.  He  may  use  imaginary  facts 
or  he  may  take  the  facts  from  a  story  clipped 
from  a  newspaper — the  latter  method  is  better 
because  it  enables  the  instructor  to  show  the 
students,  after  they  have  written  their  stories, 
just  how  the  original  story  was  written  in  the 
newspaper  office.  The  facts  should  be  given 
in  the  order  in  which  a  reporter  would  prob- 
ably secure  them  in  actual  reporting  so  that 
the  student  may  learn  to  sort  and  arrange  the 
facts  that  he  wishes  to  use,  and  to  select  the 
feature.  The  instructor  may  even  imperson- 
ate different  persons  connected  with  the  story 
and  have  the  class  interview  him  for  the  facts. 
This  method  is  to  be  followed  throughout  the 
whole  study  of  news  story  writing.  (In  in- 
dividual study,  practice  may  be  secured  from 
writing  up  imaginary  or  real  facts.) 

3.  In  these  first  fire  stories,  use  fires  that  have  no 
interest  beyond  the  interest  in  the  fire  itself — • 
that  is,  no  feature.    Begin  the  story  with  "Fire" 
and  devote  the  lead  to  answering  the  reader's 
customary  questions. 

4.  Look  for  newspaper  fire  stories  that  are  not 
correctly  written  and  reconstruct  the  lead  ac- 
cording to  the  logic  of  the  fire  lead.     That  is, 
strive  for  conciseness  and  cut  out  details  that 
do  not  properly  belong  in  the  lead. 

5.  Make  a  list  of  the  reader's  customary  questions 

298 


SUGGESTIONS    FOR    STUDY 

concerning  any  fire  and  write  out  the  briefest 
possible  answers.  Then  construct  a  lead  to 
embody  these  answers.  Determine  which  an- 
swer should  come  first  and  which  last,  accord- 
ing to  importance. 

6.  Write  the  bodies  of  some  of  these  stories.   First 
list  the  facts  that  are  to  be  presented  and  de- 
termine the  order  of  their  importance. 

7.  Emphasize  the  separateness  and  completeness 
of  the  two  parts  of  the  story — the  lead  and  the 
body  of  the  story.     Test  the  leads  to  see  if 
they  would  be  clear  in  themselves  without  fur- 
ther explanation. 

8.  Strive  for  brevity,  conciseness  and  clearness; 
wage  war  on  all  attempts  at  fine  writing. 

EXERCISES    FOR    THE    SIXTH    CHAPTER 

1.  Study  fire  stories  which  have  features — an  in- 
terest beyond  the  mere  fire  itself — and  see  how 
the  newspapers  write  them. 

2.  In  a  feature  fire  story  of  Class  L,  make  a  list 
of  the  reader's  customary  questions  concern- 
ing the  fire,  as  if  it  were  a  simple  fire  story, 
and  a  list  of  the  answers.     See  if  any  answer 
is  more  interesting  than  the  fire  itself,  or  if 
its  presence  makes  the  story  more  interesting. 
Show  that  such  an  answer  is  the  feature. 

3.  Write  fire  stories  with  features  in  some  one 
of  the  reader's  customary  answers.     (Class  I.) 

4.  Study  a  simple  fire  story  and  try  to  imagine 

299 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

what  things — properly  answers  to  the  reader's 
customary  questions — might  happen  to  give  the 
fire  greater  news  value.  This  will  show  the  stu- 
dent how  to  look  for  the  feature  of  a  story. 

5.  Write  the  lead  of  any  fire  story  in  as  many 
different  ways  as  possible,  striving  in  each  one 
to  play  up  the  same  feature. 

6.  Study  a  simple  fire  story  and  try  to  imagine 
what  unexpected  things  might  occur  in   con- 
nection with  the  fire  which  would  be  of  greater 
interest  than  the  fire  itself.     Show  that  these 
would  be   features  and  that  they  do   not  fall 
within  the  answers  to  the  reader's  customary 
questions — i.  e.,  they  are  unexpected. 

7.  Write  fire  stories  with  features  in  unexpected 
attendant  circumstances. 

8.  Make  up  lists  of  dead  and  injured;  notice  how 
the   newspapers   arrange   and   punctuate   these 
lists. 

9.  Study  fire  stories  with  more  than  one  feature. 
Work   out  the   possibilities  in   any  given  fire 
along  these  lines. 

10.  Write  fire  stories  in  which  there  is  more  than 
one  feature  worth  a  place  in  the  lead.  Try 
various  combinations  in  the  lead  to  discover 
the  happiest  arrangement.  Show  how  one  of 
many  striking  features  may  be  of  so  much 
importance  as  to  drive  the  other  features  en- 
tirely out  of  the  lead. 
300 


SUGGESTIONS    FOR   STUDY 

EXERCISES   FOR   THE   SEVENTH    CHAPTER 

Count  the  number  of  words  in  the  sentences 

and   paragraphs   of   representative   newspaper 

stories. 

Practice  writing  fire  leads  that  might  be  printed 

alone  without  the  rest  of  the  story. 

Take  a  fire  lead  and  experiment  with  various 

beginnings  to  show  the  possibilities: 

a.  Noun — experiment  with  and  without  ar- 

ticles. 

b.  Infinitive — Distinguish  infinitives  in  "to" 

and  in  "-ing." 

c.  That  clause. 

d.  Prepositional  phrase. 

e.  Temporal  clause. 

f.  Causal  clause. 

g.  Others. 

Show  that  any  of  these  beginnings  may  be 
used  in  the  playing  up  of  any  one  feature. 
Study  how  a  name  may  overshadow  an  inter- 
esting story;  determine  when  a  name  is  worth 
first  place  in  a  lead.  Study  the  practice  of  rep- 
resentative papers  in  this — do  not  hesitate  to 
show  how  a  paper  has  been  illogical  in  begin- 
ning certain  stories  with  an  unknown  name, 
for  everything  one  sees  in  a  newspaper  is  not 
ipso  facto  good  usage  in  newspaper  writing. 
In  students'  stories,  notice  what  the  principal 
verb  says  and  point  out  any  misplaced  empha- 
sis. 

301 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

6.  Wage  war  on  "was  the  unusual  experience  of" 
and  "was  the  fate  of"  in  leads. 

7.  Try  to  avoid  "broke  out"  in  fire  leads.     De- 
vote the  space  to  more  interesting  action. 

8.  Cut  out  all  useless  words  in  students'  exercises ; 
strive    for   brevity.      Go   through   a   student's 
story  and  weigh  the  value  of  each  word,  phrase, 
and  sentence;  cut  out  the  useless  ones  or  try 
to  express  them  more  briefly.    Do  the  same  to 
actual  newspaper  stories. 

9.  Weigh   the   value   of   every   detail    introduced 
into  a  lead  and  cut  out  the  unnecessary  ones; 
relegate  them  to  the  rest  of  the  story. 

10.  Wage  war  on  all  meaningless  generalities;  de- 
mand exactness. 

11.  Refer  the  class  to  the  Style  Book  in  this  vol- 
ume  and   require   them   to    follow   a   uniform 
style.      Point  out  the   differences   in   style   of 
various  papers. 

12.  See  if  the  bodies  of  students'  stories  mean  any- 
thing without  the  presence  of  the  leads.     Re- 
quire the  body  of  the  story  to  be  separate  and 
complete  in  itself.     This  need  not,  of  course, 
be  carried  to  the  point  of  repeating  addresses 
given  in  the  lead. 

13.  Try  writing  a  story  by  simply  elaborating  and 
explaining  the  details  mentioned  in  the  lead  of 
the    story.      Determine    what    facts    must    be 
added. 

14.  See  if  any  story  can  stand  the  loss  of  its  last 

302 


SUGGESTIONS    FOR    STUDY 

paragraph.     Determine  how  many  paragraphs 
it  can  lose  without  sacrificing  its  interest. 

15.  In  writing  the  body  of  a  fire  story,  list  the  facts 
that  are  to  be  told,  in  their  logical  order ;  thus : 
origin,  discovery,  spread,  death  of  firemen,  es- 
capes, injuries,  rescues,  explosion,  extinguish- 
ing of  fire.     Number  them  in  the  order  of  their 
importance.     Try  to  build  a  story  out  of  these 
by  following  the  logical  order  and  at  the  same 
time  crowding  the  most  interesting  facts  to  the 
beginning. 

1 6.  Practice  getting  the  facts  of  a  story  by  means 
of  interviews.     The  instructor  may  have  the 
students  determine  what  persons  they  wish  to 
interview  for  the  facts  and  the  instructor  may 
impersonate  these  persons  in  turn.     The  class 
may  then  write  the  story  from  the  facts  gained 
in  this  way  without  reference  to  the  interviews. 
This  is   for  selecting  and  arranging  facts  in 
their  logical  order. 

17.  Practice  the  use  of  dialogue  in  stories.    Judge 
its  effectiveness  and  show  that  in  most  cases  it 
is  well  to  avoid  dialogue. 

1 8.  Practice  rewriting  long  stories  into  short  press 
dispatches  of  1 50  words  or  less,  considering  the 
different  news  value. 

EXERCISES  FOR  THE  EIGHTH   CHAPTER 

i.    Collect  clippings  of  other  kinds  of  news  sto- 
ries. 

303 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

2.  In  writing  these  other  stories  use  the  fire  story 
as  a  model ;  the  facts  may  be  presented  as  they 
were  in  the  fire  story. 

3.  Study  the  possible  features  in  accident  stories; 
write  accident  stories  with   various   features; 
make  lists  of  dead  and  injured. 

4.  Study  and  write  robbery  stories  with  various 
features ;  distinguish  between  the  various  names 
applied  to  robbery  and  to  the  people  who  rob. 

5.  Study   and   write   murder  and   suicide   stories 
with  various  features,  striving  in  each  case  to 
give   the    facts    without   shocking  the   reader. 

.  Show  how  the  featureless  murder  or  suicide 
story  is  very  much  like  a  featureless  fire  story. 

6.  Study  and  write  riot,  storm,  flood,  and  other 
big  stories. 

7.  In  the  study  of  police  court  news  have  the  class 
go  to  the  local  police  courts  and  report  actual 
cases. 

8.  Send  the  students  to  report  meetings.     Report 
conferences,  decisions,  etc.    Insist  that  the  story 
begin  with  the  gist  of  the  report  in  each  case 
and  never  with  explanations. 

9.  Write  stories  on  bulletins,  catalogues,  city  di- 
rectories, etc.     Study  them  with  reference  to 
their  timeliness  and  try  to  discover  what  in 
them  has  the  most  news  value.     Require  the 
student   to   begin   with   this   element   of   news 
value  and  to  give  the  source   (the  name  and 
date  of  the  bulletin,  etc.)  in  the  lead. 

10.    Look  over  the  daily  papers  and  pick  out  news 

304 


SUGGESTIONS    FOR    STUDY 

stories  which  bury  the  gist  of  their  news  and 
have  the  students  rewrite  the  leads  to  play  up 
the  real  news  or  to  give  greater  emphasis  to 
buried  features. 

EXERCISES   FOR   THE   NINTH    CHAPTER 

1.  Collect  good  examples  of  the  follow-up  and  the 
rewrite    story;    follow    one    important    story 
through  several  days'  editions  to  see  how  it  is 
rewritten    day    by    day.      Examine    an    after- 
noon paper's  version  of  a  story  covered  in  a 
morning  paper. 

2.  Take  any  news  story  and  work  out  the  follow- 
up  possibilities;  imagine  what  the  next  step  in 
the  story  will  be. 

3.  On  this  basis,  write  follow-up  stories  and  re- 
write stories. 

4.  Write  a  follow-up  story  which,  while  beginning 
with  a  new  feature,  retells  the  original  story. 

5.  Study   and   write   follow-up    stories   involving 
fires,    accidents,    robberies,    murders,    suicides, 
storms  (present  condition),  etc. 

EXERCISES   FOR   THE  TENTH    CHAPTER 

1.  Collect  good  examples  of  speech  reports. 

2.  Take  notes  on  oral  speeches  and  write  reports 
of  varying  lengths.     Practice  taking  notes  in 
the  proper  way  and  write  the  report  at  once — 
perhaps  as   an   impromptu   in  class.     The   in- 
structor may  send  his  students  to  public  lec- 

305 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

tures  or  read  representative  speeches  to  them 
in  class. 

3.  Write  reports  of  speeches  from  printed  copies 
of  the  speech;  that  is,  edit  them  in  condensed 
form. 

4.  Take  one  lead  and  experiment  with  different 
beginnings,  playing  up  the  same  idea  in  each 
case. 

5.  Discuss  speeches  to  determine  the  newsiest  and 
timeliest  thing  in  the  speech — the  statement  to 
be  played  up  in  the  lead. 

6.  In  the  body  of  the  report  try  to  use  as  much 
direct  quotation  as  possible,  use  complete  sen- 
tence  quotations,   do  not  mix  quotation  and 
summary  in  the  same  paragraph  or  sentence. 
Study  the  rules  regarding  the  use  of  quota- 
tion marks. 

7.  Have  the   students  write  running   reports  of 
speeches — that  is,  have  them  write  their  report 
as  they  listen  to  the  speech  and  submit  their 
report  in  this  form.     Naturally  the  lead  must 
be  written  later. 

EXERCISES  FOR  THE  ELEVENTH  CHAPTER 

1.  Collect  representative  interview  stories. 

2.  Have  students  interview  various  people  with- 
out the  aid  of  a  note  book;  have  them  bring 
back   quoted   statements   by  the   use   of  their 
memory.     Have  them  interview  some  one  who 
will  criticize  their  manner  and  method. 

306 


SUGGESTIONS    FOR    STUDY 

3.  Have  a  definite  reason  or  timeliness  for  every 
interview — have  the  student  map  out  a  definite 
campaign   beforehand.      Try   writing   out   the 
questions  beforehand  in  shape  to  fill  in  the  an- 
swers. 

4.  Write   interview   stories    from    the   results   of 
these  attempts. 

5.  Begin  the  same  interview  story  in  various  ways. 

6.  Write  an  interview  story  in  which  the  feature 

is  a  denial  or  a  refusal  to  speak;  tell  what 
should  have  been  said  and  what  the  denial  or 
refusal  signifies. 

7.  Study  the  form  of  the  body  of  the  report  (see 
Speech  Reports). 

8.  Write  stories  which  are  the  result  of  several 
interviews  on  the  same  subject;  arrange  them 
informally  and  formally. 

EXERCISES   FOR   THE   TWELFTH    CHAPTER 

1.  Collect  examples  of  good  court  reports. 

2.  Attend   and   report   actual   cases   in   the   local 
courts   (preferably  civil  courts). 

3.  Determine  what  is  the  most  interesting  thing 
in  each. 

4.  From  this,  write  court  reports — reports  of  the 
cases  which  the  students  have  heard. 

5.  Experiment  with  the  various   beginnings   for 
the  same  report. 

6.  Try  summarizing  a  case  in  one  paragraph. 

7.  Practice  getting  down  testimony  verbatim. 

21  307 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 

8.  Practice    summarizing    testimony    in    indirect 
form. 

9.  Practice  writing  out  the  testimony  in  full  in 
the  various  ways. 

10.  Write  testimony  with  action  in  it  for  the  sake 
of  human  interest. 

11.  Show  how  all  of  these  may  be  combined  into 
one  good  court  report. 

EXERCISES  FOR  THE  THIRTEENTH  CHAPTER 

1.  Notice    how    various   newspapers    treat    social 
news;  study  the  reason  in  each  case;  collect 
examples. 

2.  List  the  facts  of  a  wedding  story;  write  short 
and  long  wedding  stories. 

3.  Write   wedding   announcements,   beginning  in 
various  ways. 

4.  Write  engagement  announcements. 

5.  Write  up   receptions,   banquets,   dinners,   etc. ; 
report  actual  functions. 

6.  Write  announcements  for  the  same  functions. 

7.  Write  up  some  unusual  social  story  as  a  news 
story. 

8.  Practice   writing   obituaries   and   simple   death 
stories   with    accompanying   obituary.      Write 
sketches  of  the  lives  of  prominent  people. 

9.  In  these  exercises  use  actual  events  as  subjects. 

EXERCISES  FOR  THE  FOURTEENTH  CHAPTER 

i.    Study  sporting  stories  for  their  material  and 
method. 

308 


SUGGESTIONS    FOR    STUDY 

2.  Report  a  football  game  or  some  other  sporting 
event. 

3.  Make  a  running  account  of  a  football  or  base- 
ball game. 

4.  Write  a  brief  summary  of  the  game  to  be  sent 
out  as  a  dispatch,  limiting  it  to  150  words. 

5.  Write  up  the  same  game  in  200300  words; 
attach  a  condensed  running  account  of  the  same 
length. 

6.  Write  a  long  story  of  the  same  game,  follow- 
ing the  outline  given  in  the  text;  attach  a  de- 
tailed running  account  by  periods  or  innings; 
compile  tables  of  players  and  results  for  the 
end. 

7.  The  study  of  sporting  news  may  be  taken  out 
of  its  logical  place  and  studied  during  the  base- 
ball or  football  season. 

EXERCISES    FOR    THE   FIFTEENTH    CHAPTER 

1.  Collect  human  interest  and  newspaper  feature 
stories. 

2.  Watch  for  material  for  human  interest  stories ; 
look  at  the  facts  in   your  other  news  stories 
in  a  sympathetic  way  and  see  how  they  could 
be  made  into  human  interest  stories. 

3.  Write   human   interest   stories  on   facts  given 
by  the  instructor  and  on  facts  discovered  by  the 
students. 

4.  Write  animal  stories,  and  witty  comments  on 
the  weather. 

309 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

5.    Write  up  some  timely  local  subject  as  a  1500- 
word  feature  story. 

EXERCISES    FOR    THE    SIXTEENTH    CHAPTER 

1.  Gather  good  theatrical  reports  and  watch  for 
those    in   which    the    whole   report   is   written 
around  a  single  idea. 

2.  At  the  theater  watch   for  things  to  comment 
on;  try  to  bring  away  one  definite  idea  about 
the  play — with  illustrations. 

3.  Write  dramatic  criticisms  that  are  the  embodi- 
ment of  a  single  idea  or  criticism  on  the  play. 

4.  Try  to  point  out  the  bad  things  in  a  play  with- 
out being  bitter  or  personal. 

5.  Write  a  half-column  of  copy  on  a  vaudeville 

show,  supposing  that  the  copy  is  paid  for  and 
must  praise,  not  only  the  show  as  a  whole, 
but  each  individual  act. 

EXERCISES   FOR  THE   SEVENTEENTH    CHAPTER 

1.  Notice  the  form  and  punctuation  of  the  date 
line :    MADISON,  Wis.,  Feb.  29.— 

2.  Notice  the  writing  of   street   addresses:   234 
Grand  avenue,  4167  Twenty-sixth  street;  3857 
I38th  street;   (without  "at"). 

3.  Notice  in  the  use  of  figures — sums  of  money, 
hours  of  day,  ages,  figures  at  the  beginning  of 
sentence. 

4.  Notice  use  of  titles;  use  of  Mr.  before  a  man's 
name — always   give    a   man's   initials   or    first 
name  the  first  time  you  mention  it  in  any  story. 


APPENDIX  II 

NEWS  STORIES  TO  BE  CORRECTED 

(The  following  stories  have  been  pre- 
pared to  illustrate  some  of  the  most  usual 
mistakes  in  newspaper  writing.  They 
may  be  rewritten  or  used  as  exercises  in 
copy-reading.  As  a  class  exercise,  the  stu- 
dent may  revise  and  correct  these  stories 
without  recopying,  just  as  a  copy-reader 
revises  poorly  written  copy.) 


Shortly  after  2 130  this  morning  fire 
broke  out  in  a  pile  of  old  papers  in  the 
basement  of  the  Harmony  Flat  building, 
at  1356  Congress  avenue,  a  four-story 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 
eight-apartment  structure.      Two   firemen 

were  killed  by  a  falling  wall. 

The  fire  had  a  good  start  before  the 
janitor,  Michael  Jones,  who  sleeps  in  the 
basement,  awoke.  He  turned  in  an  alarm 
and  ran  through  the  halls  awakening  the 
occupants.  The  people  on  the  two  lower 
floors  escaped  in  their  night  clothing  by 
the  stairways,  but  the  fire  spread  very  rap- 
idly, the  occupants  of  the  upper  floors  be- 
ing forced  to  flee  down  the  fire  escapes  in 
the  rear. 

When  the  firemen  put  in  an  appearance, 

Mrs..  Jeanette  Huyler  appeared  at  a  third 
312 


NEWS  STORIES  TO  BE  CORRECTED 
story  window  and  called  for  help.  An  ex- 
tension ladder  being  hoisted,  she  was  res- 
cued without  difficulty.  During  the  fire 
the  wall  on  the  east  side  fell  and  killed 
Fireman  John  Casey  and  Jacob  Hughes; 
Fireman  Williams  Jacobs  was  hit  on  the 
head  by  a  brick  and  seriously  injured. 

The  fire  was  extinguished  before  it 
spread  to  an  adjoining  three-story  flat 
building  on  the  west. 

The  firemen  in  searching  the  ruins 
found  the  body  of  a  man  who  was  later 
identified  as  Rupert  Smithers;  he  was  70 

and  occupied  a  lower  flat  by  himself.    The 
313 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 
janitor  said  that  he  was  deaf  and  prob- 
ably did  not  hear  the  warning.    The  three 
dead  and  injured  firemen  belong  to  Hose 
Co.  No.  24. 

Loss  $50,000,  fully  insured. 


II 

The  police  have  arrested  John  Johnson, 
23  years  old,  2367  Sixth  Street,  charged 
with  murdering  Mrs.  Laura  Buckthorn, 
the  well-known  proprietor  of  the  Duchess 
Restaurant,  438  High  street.  He  is  now 
in  the  county  jail. 

Mrs.  Buckthorn  was  sixty  years  old  and 
3H 


NEWS  STORIES  TO  BE  CORRECTED 
the  widow  of  one  of  the  oldest  settlers  in 

the  city. 

She  lived  in  her  small  cottage  at  2367 
Sixth  Street  and  supported  herself  by 
means  of  the  restaurant.  John  Johnson,  a 
street  car  motorman  occupied  a  room  in 
her  cottage.  Mrs.  Buckthorn  was  found 
dead  in  her  bed,  in  a  pool  of  blood,  with 
two  bullet  holes  in  her  head  this  morning. 
Mrs.  Grady,  the  •  restaurant  cook  said,  "I 
became  alarmed  when  Mrs.  Buckthorn  did 
not  appear  as  usual  at  the  restaurant  this 
morning  and  went  to  her  home  to  find 

her." 

315 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 
Inquiry   showed    that   Mrs.    Buckthorn 

had  drawn  $250  from  the  First  National 
Bank  yesterday  and  her  daughter,  Mrs. 
J.  D.  Jackson,  1548  Sixth  Street,  says  that 
her  mother  often  kept  such  sums  of  money 
at  home  under  the  mattress  of  her  bed. 
Mrs.  Jackson  also  says  that  she  often 
warned  her  mother  against  such  habits. 
The  money  was  not  under  the  mattress 
this  morning. 

Further  inquiry  showed  that  John  John- 
son did  not  appear  for  work  as  usual  this 
morning  and  was  later  found  by  Police- 
man Patrick  O'Hara  in  the  railroad  yards. 

316 


NEWS  STORIES  TO  BE  CORRECTED 
He  had  with  him  $223.67  and  a  ticket  to 

New  York.  He  was  known  to  be  hard  up 
but  refused  to  account  for  the  money  and 
was  given  a  berth  in  the  county  jail. 

Samuel  Benson,  cashier  of  the  First  Na- 
tional, is  sure  that  the  two  loodollar 
bills  which  were  found  on  Johnson  are  the 
same  bills  that  he  gave  to  Mrs.  Buckthorn 
yesterday  afternoon.  Johnson  will  be 
given  a  hearing  to-morrow  but  it  is  al- 
ready considered  certain  that  he  is  the 
guilty  party,  the  evidence  being  so  strong. 

(This  story  may  be  rewritten  for  local 
use  and  for  a  dispatch.) 

317 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 

III 

Sparks,  resulting  from  the  grounding 
of  an  electric  wire,  ignited  a  bucket  of  gas- 
olene and  fired  the  shop  of  the  G.  W. 
Smith  Motor  Co.,  at  228,  232  West  street 
last  night,  five  automobiles  valued  at 
$5,800  being  destroyed  and  the  building 
being  damaged  to  the  extent  of  6,200  dol- 
lars by  fire. 

The  insulation  on  the  wires  of  an  exten- 
sion light  that  Edward  Flasch,  one  of  the 
repair  men  was  using  became  cracked,  the 
wire  grounding  as  a  result.  The  sparks 

318 


NEWS  STORIES  TO  BE  CORRECTED 
fell   into   a   bucket   of  gasolene   standing 

nearby  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  entire 
building  was  ablaze.  G.  W.  Smith,  pro- 
prietor of  the  garage,  said  that  he  was  sit- 
ting in  his  office  at  the  time  of  the  explo- 

<f 
sion  and  tried  to  put  the  fire  out  with  sand 

but  could  not  get  the  blaze  under  any  con- 
trol. He  then  started  to  run  out  as  many 
machines  as  possible. 

Six  cars,  valued  at  $9,000  were  saved. 


IV 

Madison,  September  25th,   1912;  With 
a    loud     deafening     roar     that     violently 


NEWSPAPER  REPORTING 
aroused  hundreds  from  their  beds  of  slum- 
ber the  monster  gas  holder  occuppying 
the  southwest  corner  of  South  Blount  and 
Main  Streets  at  the  gasplant  of  the  Madi- 
son Gas  and  Electric  Company  collapsed 
very  suddenly  at  6  :sO  a.  m.  this  morning, 
and  now  lies  partly  submerged  in  water, 
a  total  wreck.  The  damage  will  be  fully 
25,000  dollars,  but  there  will  be  no  inter- 
ruption to  the  service  the  company's  excel- 
lent reserve  equippment  being  immediately 
brought  into  action  for  the  emergency. 
The  cause  of  the  explosion  was  at  first 

clothed  in  deep  mystery  before  the  officials 
320 


NEWS  STORIES  TO  BE  CORRECTED 
of  the  company  had  time  to  make  any  in- 
vestigation. 

However  it  was  definitely  ascertained 
during  the  morning  when  Mr.  John  W. 
Jackson,  the  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the 
company,  being  interviewed  by  a  Daily 
News  correspondent  this  morning,  stated 
that  the  immense  quantities  of  snow  on 
the  roof  of  the  holder  was  primarily  re- 
sponsible. The  weight  of  the  snow  on 
one  side  of  the  holder  causing  it  to  drop 
down  broke  the  wheel  and  pushed  the 
holder  off  the  foundation  on  which  it  was 

standing.     There  was  a  momentary  blaze 
321 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 
but  when  the  tank  settled  down  into  the 

reservoir  below  the  fire  went  out  and  the 
awful  peril  from  this  highly  dangerous 
source  was  fortunately  averted. 

As  it  was  dozens  of  windows  at  the 
planing  mill  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
street  were  all  left  intact.  In  fact  no  dam- 
age whatsoever  outside  of  the  holder  re- 
sulted from  the  unfortunate  accident. 
Two  workmen,  Jacob  Casey  and  Nelson 
Jones,  were  unfortunately  caught  beneath 
the  wreckage  and  their  bodies  were 
removed  later  in  the  morning'  by  the  fire 

department.     The  tank  was  full  when  it 
322 


NEWS  STORIES  TO  BE  CORRECTED 
collapsed  and  that  it  did  not  scatter  de- 
struction and  take  more  innocent  lives 
was  one  of  the  fortunate  features  of  the 
accident  and  a  great  cause  for  congratula- 
tion among  the  officials  of  the  company 
today. 

(This    story    illustrates,    among    other 
things,  excessive  wordiness.) 


V 

After  being  chased  by  a  young  woman 
for  several  blocks,  a  man  who  gave  his 
name  as  John  Weber,  was  pursued  through 
a  saloon  at  u-97th  street  by  Policeman 

Arthur  Brown  and  captured  on  the  roof  of 
22  323 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 
a  building  adjoining  the  saloon,  where  the 

man  had  hidden  behind  a  chimney.  Weber 
was  arrested  by  the  policeman  and  is  held 
on  a  charge  preferred  by  Charles  Young,  a 
grocer  at  2145  Sixth  avenue,  of  attempt- 
ing to  rob  Young's  grocery  store. 

According  to  Young,  just  before  he 
closed  his  store  for  the  night  last  evening, 
a  young  man  entered  the  store  and  asked 
for  a  pound  of  butter.  "I  thought,"  said 
Young,  "that  the  man  was  just  married 
and  might  be  a  possible  new  customer.  I 
started  for  the  back  of  the  store  to  open  a 

new  tub  but  just  as  I  turned  to  go,  he  hit 
324 


NEWS  STORIES  TO  BE  CORRECTED 
me   over   the  head  with   his   cane.      The 

blow  dazed  me  but  I  still  had  sense  enough 
to  grab  him  by  the  collar.  In  the  fight  we 
both  fell  through  the  glass  door  at  the 
front  of  the  store  and  the  d — n  rascal  got 
away."  A  young  woman,  who  was  pass- 
ing the  store,  seeing  the  fracas,  screamed 
and  started  to  run  after  the  young  man. 
She  followed  him  until  he  ran  into  a  sa- 
loon. Then  she  ran  up  to  Policeman 
Brown,  who  was  standing  at  the  corner  of 

97th  st.  and  Sixth-av  and  told  him  that  a 
robber  had  gone  into  the  saloon.    The  po- 
liceman ran  into  the  saloon,  but  found  the 
325 


NEWSPAPER  REPORTING 
man  had  left  by  the  back  stairs.  The  po- 
liceman followed  up  two  flights  of  stairs 
leading  to  the  roof,  on  the  run,  where  he 
found  Weber  hiding  behind  a  chimney. 
Weber  refused  to  give  his  address. 

After  watching  until  she  saw  the  robber 
taken  away  in  the  paddy-wagon,  the 
doughty  young  woman  disappeared.  Her 
name  is  unknown. 


VI 

A  burglar  dressed  in  a  Salvation  Army 
uniform  was  arrested  for  attempting  to 

burglarize  Walter  White's  home,  16  West 
326 


NEWS  STORIES  TO  BE  CORRECTED 
62nd  st.  at  about  two  o'clock  last  night. 

He  gave  his  name  as  Julius  Woll  and  his 
address  as  129  23rd  ave. 

The  caretaker  at  Walter  White's  said 
he  was  awakened  at  i  o'clock  by  the  noise 
of  bureau  drawers  opening  and  he  at  once 
phoned  to  the  station.  An  officer  came 
and  found  the  would-be  burglar  under  the 
bed.  After  considerable  scuffling  the  man 
was  arrested  and  taken  to  the  station. 

The  Salvation  Army  denied  any  connec- 
tion with  the  prisoner  but  the  landlady  at 
his  address  said  he  had  two  uniforms  and 
always  wore  one.  He  also  carried  a 


NEWSPAPER    REPORTING 
prayer  book  under  his  arm  whenever  he 

left  his  room.  She  also  said  that  he  had 
resided  in  her  house  for  six  weeks  and 
owed  four  weeks  board;  also  that  he  had 
not  been  there  for  two  weeks.  Inquiry 
proved  that  he  was  out  regularly  until 
three  or  four  in  the  morning". 


VII 

The  wedding  of  Mr.  James  Henry, 
1463  Seventh  Street,  and  Miss  Sarah 
Jones,  last  night  at  the  home  of  the  bride's 
parents,  at  316  North  Johnson  Street,  was 

a  brilliant  success. 

328 


NEWS  STORIES  TO  BE  CORRECTED 
Fifty  guests  were  present  and  the  pres- 
ents which  they  brought  all  but  rilled  the 
parlor.  After  the  ceremony  a  seven- 
course  banquet  was  served  until  1 1 130 
o'clock.  Miss  Sadie  Jones  rendered  "The 
Rosary"  to  the  accompaniment  of  Mr. 
John  Field. 

The  bride  wore  a  gown  of  pink  taffeta 
and  carried  sweet  peas.  The  bridesmai'd, 
Lily  Swenk,  was  dressed  in  white  muslin. 
The  groom  and  best  man,  Mr.  Arthur 
Howies,  wore  conventional  black.  Rev. 
Stone  of  the  First  M.  E.  church  officiated. 

The  groom  is  a  promising  young  law- 
329 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 
yer  of  this  city.     His  bride  is  one  of  the 

city's  leading  young  society  woman,  being 
deeply  interested  in  the  Womans'  Suf- 
frage League.  There  marriage  is  the  re- 
sult of  a  love  affair  begun  at  the  univer- 
sity and  is  the  cause  of  heart-felt  congrat- 
ulations from  their  friends.  After  a  trip 
to  the  Coast,  the  happy  couple  will  reside 
in  this  city. 


VIII 

"What  we  need  in  our  universities  are 
sportsmen  and  not  sports,"  said  President 

G.  E.  Gilbert  of  the  Western  University, 
330 


NEWS  STORIES  TO  BE  CORRECTED 
in  the  convocation  address  yesterday  aft- 
ernoon at  four  o'clock.     "The  sportsman 
plays  for  the  game,  but  the  sport  plays  for 
the  victory." 

The  President  continued,  "Before  the 
battle,  and  during  the  battle,  the 
sportsman  can  be  told  from  the  sport." 
It  is  the  actions  of  the  man,  he 
said,  when  he  is  in  the  test  that  determine 
to  which  class  he  belongs.  The  Presi- 
dent summarized  the  various  college 
activities  and  showed  how  the  two 
classes  of  men  appear  in  each  different 
activity.  And  in  each,  as  the  President 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 
said,  "you  can  tell  the  sportsman  from  the 

sport." 

"I  think  that  this,  the  relation  between 
the  sportsman  and  the  sport,  is  the  truest 
analogy  that  can  be  applied  to  human  life. 
Life  as  a  sea,  life  as  a  battle,  life  as  a  river 
in  which  you  must  always  paddle  your 
own  canoe  upstream,  life  as  a  hill-climbing 
contest — all  these  analogies  have  their 
weaknesses.  But  life  as  a  game  is  a  true 
analogy." 

The  President  concluded  with  a  glow- 
ing tribute  to  our  university. 

332 


NEWS  STORIES  TO  BE  CORRECTED 

IX 

FAULTY    LEADS 

Evading  the  police  by  sliding  down  a 
rope  fire  escape  from  a  hotel  window,  Jo- 
seph Matus,  charged  with  robbing  a  lum- 
ber jack  of  $125,  escaped  the  police 
temporily  only  to  be  arrested  an  hour 
later  at  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  St. 
Paul  depot. 


Ignited  by  the  breaking  of  an  electric 
lamp,  a  tank  of  whiskey  containing  7,705 

gallons  exploded  and  threw  Francis  Tab, 
333 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 
1 20  W.  1 39th  St.,  thirty  feet  against  the 

opposite  wall  at  the  E.  J.  Jimkons  Com- 
pany, 4Oth  street  this  morning-. 


Fire  of  unknown  origin  started  in  the 
big  lumber  yards  owned  by  Charles  John- 
son at  763  Clinton  Avenue,  yesterday  aft- 
ernoon. The  yards  and  one  million  feet 
of  lumber  were  totally  destroyed.  The 
entire  district  between  Mitchell  street  and 
the  South  River  was  in  danger  of  total 
destruction,  according  to  fire  Chief  Casey. 


Fire  starting  in  a  shed  on  West  street 
334 


NEWS  STORIES  TO  BE  CORRECTED 
caused  the  total  destruction  of  the  First 

Baptist  church  and  the  death  of  two  fire- 
men killed  by  falling  walls.  Loss  $120,- 
ooo. 


Trade  war  is  the  only  probable  result 
of  the  abrogation  of  the  Russian  treaty, 
was  the  statement  of  the  Hon.  Frank  J. 
Blank,  secretary  of  State,  before  a  large 
and  enthusiastic  audience  at  the  opera 
house  last  evening.  1800  people  packed 
the  building  to  overflowing. 


John    Jones,    a    workman,    who    was 
335 


NEWSPAPER   REPORTING 
slightly  injured  when  a  thousand  pounds 

of  powder  exploded  and  wrecked  the 
Three-Ex  Powder  mill  last  night,  was 
taken  to  the  St.  James  hospital. 


The  presence  of  mind  and  coolness  of 
Mrs.  J.  B.  Sweeny,  758  North  Street, 
saved  little  Johnny  Sweeny  from  death 
last  night  when  she  caught  him  by  the 
coattail  and  dragged  him  from  beneath 
the  fender  of  a  street  car.  Mrs.  Sweeny 
was  dragged  50  feet  by  the  car  and  taken 
to  the  St.  Luke's  hospital  in  an  ambu- 
lance that  was  hastily  summoned. 

336 


NEWS  STORIES  TO  BE  CORRECTED 
Falling  through   a   street   car  window 

without  receiving  so  much  as  a  bruise  was 
the  unusual  experience  of  Michael  Casey 
last  night  on  Main  Street.  Michael  was 
not  intoxicated — so  he  says. 


Recklessly  driving  his  automobile  over 
the  curb  on  Smith  street,  Mr.  James 
White,  who  resides  at  .764  Smith  street, 
was  fatally  hurt  by  a  careless  chauffeur, 
who  was  unable  to  handle  his  machine 
and  skidded  at  the  corner  near  Mr. 

White's  home. 

337 


NEWSPAPER  REPORTING 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Sane  Fourth  com- 
mittee in  the  city  library  last  evening 
at  seven  thirty,  it  was  decided  that  Smith- 
town  must  pass  a  law  forbidding  the  sale 
and  use  of  cannon  crackers. 


INDEX 


Abbreviations,  287. 

Accidents,  3,   107-109,  291. 

Accuracy,  145,  168,  209, 
212,  290. 

Addresses,  style  of,  278, 
279,  286,  288,  290,  310. 

Advertising,  28. 

Ages,  how  written,  286. 

Animal  story,  253. 

Announcements,  of  engage- 
ments, 210;  social,  212; 
stories  on,  121 ;  wedding, 
209. 

Article  beginning,  43,  80. 

Assignments,  5,  29. 

Associated  Press,  10. 

Association,  City  Press,  10, 

193- 

Athletic  news,  219  -  232, 
278,  283. 

B 

Baseball  stories,  219. 
Beat,  or  run,  5,  29. 

23 


Beat,  or  scoop,  6,  30. 

Beginning  of  lead,  80,  89; 
with  article,  43,  80;  with 
name,  57,  85,  161,  175, 
180,  195,  249;  with  time, 

47; 

Beginnings  of  court  re- 
ports, 195-200;  of  human 
interest  stories,  244-250; 
of  interview  stories,  179- 
187;  of  speech  reports, 
151-164. 

Big  story,  5,  31 ;  following- 
up  of,  140;  handling  of, 
116;  resulting  interviews 
from,  176,  187. 

Bills,  stories  on  legislative, 
121. 

Body  of  the  story,  45,  76; 
discussion  of,  91 ;  of 
court  reports,  200;  of 
follow  stories,  129;  of 
human  interest  stories, 
250;  of  interview  stories, 
185;  of  news  stories, 
122;  of  obituaries,  216; 
of  speech  reports,  164. 


339 


INDEX 


Book,  of  tips,  3,  295;  style, 

33,  276-293. 
Box,  32,  188. 
Break,  to,  31. 

Brevity,   13,   206,  217,  231. 
Brief      summary      athletic 

story,  222. 

Bulletins,  stories  on,  121. 
Business  office,  28. 


Capitalization,   276-281. 

Circulation,  15,  28. 

City  editor,  2,  29. 

City  Press  Association,  10, 

193. 

Classes  of  readers,  16. 
Clause   beginning   of   lead, 

82. 

Clean  copy,  30. 
Clearness,  91,   104,   123. 
Clippings,  295. 
Coherence,  166   266. 
Column,  32. 
Compositor,  30. 
Compounds    and    divisions 

of  words,  285. 
Concreteness,  104,  293. 
Conferences,     reports     of, 

119. 
Continued   case   beginning, 


Cooperation  in  newsgather- 

ing,  10,  193. 
Copy,    30;    preparation    of, 

289. 

Copyreader,  29. 
Copyreading,  311. 
Corrected,    stories    to    be, 

3"- 

Correspondent,  work  of,  2; 

instructions  to,   n,  223. 

Court  reporting,  4;  discus- 
sion of,  192-203,  281. 

Cover,  to,  29. 

Crime,  stories  on,  110-116. 

Criticism,     dramatic,     259- 

275. 
Crowd,     used    as    feature, 

68. 

Cub  reporter,  28. 
Cynicism,  235,  252. 

D 

Datelines,  283,  310. 
Dates,    how    written,    278, 

286,  290. 

Day  city  editor,  29. 
Dead,  lists  of,  63. 
Death    element,    3,    22,   61, 

73,  107. 
Decisions,  reports  of,  119. 

Defmiteness,  104. 
Desk  man,  29. 
Despatch,  12,  222. 


340 


INDEX 


Dialogue,  use  of,  103;  in 
court  reports,  200;  in 
human  interest  stories, 
245,  251;  rules  for,  283. 

Dictation  of  stories,  298. 

Diction,  290-293. 

Directories,  stories  on,  121. 

Distance,  effect  of,   n,  20. 

Division  of  words,  285. 

Don'ts,  in  dramatic  report- 
ing, 265 ;  in  general,  290 ; 
in  leads,  85-90. 

Down  style,  33. 

Dramatic  reporting,  259- 
275- 


Editing,  30,   144. 

Editor,  29;  day  or  night 
city,  2,  29;  sporting,  29, 
219;  state,  2;  Sunday, 
29;  telegraph,  2,  29. 

Editorial  room,  28. 

Editorial  writers,  29. 

Elections,  3,  277,  281,  288. 

Emphasis,  102. 

Engagement  announce- 
ments,  210. 

Entertainments,  reports  of, 
210. 

Exaggeration,  22,  89. 

Expected  news,  3. 


Faults  in  news  stories,  75- 
104. 

Faulty  stories  to  be  cor- 
rected, 311. 

Feature,  the,  27,  31,  37,  41, 
50,  106-122,  125,  150, 
175,  195,  228,  244,  266; 
crowd  as,  68;  death  as, 
61,  73;  exaggeration  for, 
89;  fire  fighting  as,  67; 
how,  57;  in  accident 
stories,  107;  in  football 
stories,  219-232;  in  hu- 
man interest  stories,  233- 
255;  in  murder  stories, 
114;  in  police  stories, 
118;  in  robbery  stories, 
no;  in  speech  reports, 
150;  in  suicide  stories, 
115;  injuries  as,  65; 
more  than  one,  70;  play- 
ing up  of,  27,  31;  prop- 
erty threatened  as,  66; 
rescues  as,  65;  unexpect- 
ed attendant  circum- 
stances as,  60;  what,  55; 
when,  54;  where,  52; 
who,  57;  why,  51. 

Feature  fire  story,  50-74, 

Feature  social  story,  213. 

Feature  story,  the  special, 
3i,  255. 


341 


INDEX 


Featureless   fire    story,   41- 

49- 
Figures,  news  value  of,  24; 

use  of,  283,  286,  290. 
Fine  writing,  124,  213,  218, 

251. 
Fire   story,  39,   41,   50,   75, 

IO5,   122. 

Fires,  3,  4,  7,  39,  41,  50, 
75,  105,  122. 

Follow,  or  follow-up,  story, 
32;  relation  of,  to  court 
reports,  197;  relation  of, 
to  interviews,  187;  writ- 
ing of,  125,  130-140. 

Following  up  related  sub- 
jects, 140. 

Football  stories,  219-232. 

Form  of  the  news  story, 
34-40. 

Freak  leads  in  speech  re- 
ports, 163. 


Gathering  the  news,  1-13; 
in  athletic  reporting, 
230;  in  court  reporting, 
193;  in  human  interest 
stories,  234 ;  in  interview- 
ing, 169;  in  reporting 
speeches,  144. 

Generalities,  meaningless, 
89. 


Gist,  31,  36,  233,  243,  266. 
Grammar,  78,  84,  123. 
Group  interviews,  187. 

H 

Heads,    headlines,    27,    30, 

78,  188. 
Hospitals,  as  news  sources, 

4- 

How,  feature  in,  57. 
Human  interest  stories,  17, 

24,  32,  178,  185,  191,  198; 

discussion  of,  233-255. 
Humor,  24,  198,  214,  241. 
Humorous  story,  241. 


Infinitive  beginning  of 
lead,  81. 

Injuries,  feature  in,  65; 
list  of,  64. 

Instructions  to  correspon- 
dents, 12. 

Interest,  14,  35,  92,  102, 
104,  141,  179,  192;  hu- 
man,  17,  24,  32,  178,  185, 
191,  198,  233-255. 

Interview   stories,    175-191. 

Interviews,  for  facts,  6, 
103;  for  opinions,  6,  141, 
169-191;  group,  187. 


342. 


INDEX 


Keynote        beginning 
speech  report,  158. 
Killing  a  story,  30. 


of 


Lead,  31 ;  beginning  of,  80, 
89;  don' is  in,  85-90;  in 
athletic  stories,  223,  227; 
in  court  reports,  195-200; 
in  fire  stories,  39,  42,  50, 
77-90;  in  follow  stories, 
127-140;  in  human  inter- 
est stories,  233;  in  inter- 
view stories,  179-185, 
188;  in  obituary  stories, 
214;  in  other  news 
stories,  106;  in  speech 
reports,  147-164;  length 
of,  75;  main  verb  of,  86. 

Leaded,  32. 

Length,  of  lead,  75;  of 
paragraphs,  75;  of  sen- 
tences, 76. 

Line-up  of  teams,  232. 

Linotype,  30. 

Lists  of  dead  and  injured, 
63;  of  guests,  patron- 
esses, etc.,  211,  282;  of 
names,  282. 

Local  interest,  21,   26. 

Long  football  story,  2.36. 


Loss  of  life,  22,  61,  73;  of 

property,  23,  55. 

M 

Mailing  stories,  13. 
Main  verb  of  lead,  86. 
Make-up,    making    up,    31, 

37- 

Manner,  reporter's,  172. 
Marriages,  206. 
Meaningless       generalities, 

89. 

Meetings,  reports  of,  3,  119, 

291. 
Money,  sums  of,  281,   286, 

290. 

Morgue,  4,  216. 
"Mr.",    use    of,    287,    292, 

310. 
Murders,   113. 

N 

Name  beginning,  in  court 
reports,  195;  in  human 
interest  stories,  249;  in 
interview  stories,  175, 
180;  in  news  stories,  57, 
85,  108-116;  in  speech  re- 
ports, 161. 

Names,  prominent,  23,  57, 
108-116,  150,  161,  178; 
use  of,  276,  277,  280-283. 


343 


INDEX 


Narrative  order,  in  athletic 
stories,  227;  in  court  re- 
ports, 200;  in  human  in- 
terest stories,  250;  in  in- 
terview stories,  185 ;  in 
news  stories,  34-40,  92- 
102;  in  obituaries,  215; 
in  speech  reports  166;  in 
wedding  stories,  207. 

News,  14-27,  125;  agencies 
for  gathering,  10,  193; 
cooperation  in  gathering, 
10,  193;  expected  and 
unexpected,  3;  gathering 
of,  1-13,  144,  169,  193, 
230,  234;  sources  of,  4, 
29;  sporting,  219-232, 
278,  283. 

New  story,  34-124. 

News  story  form,  34-40. 

News  tips,  3,  30,  295. 

News  values,  n,  14-27,  38, 
41,  204,  233. 

Newspaper  terms,  28-33. 

Night  city  editor,  29. 

Nose  for  news,  viii. 

Notebook,  170. 

Note  taking,  in  athletic  re- 
porting, 230;  in  court  re- 
porting, 194;  in  dramatic 
reporting,  267;  in  inter- 
viewing, 170;  in  speech 
reporting,  144. 

Noun  beginning  of  lead,  80. 


Obituaries,  214. 

Order    of    narrative     (see 

Narrative  order). 
Outlining  of  a  story,  99. 


Paragraph  length,  75,  290. 

Paragraphing,  48,  75,  166, 
1 86,  290. 

Participial  phrase  begin- 
ning for  lead,  83,  158. 

Parts  of  a  news  story,  46, 
76,  91. 

Pathetic  story,  238. 

Pathos,  24,  198,  238. 

Personal   appeal,   25,   249. 

Personal  news,  20,  204. 

Photographs,   13. 

Playing  up,  31 ;  of  the  fea- 
ture, 27,  31. 

Point  of  view  of  news- 
paper, 8. 

Police  court  news,  4,   118. 

Policy,  26. 

Political  news,  25. 

Practice,  294. 

Preparation  of  copy,  289. 

Prepositional  phrase  begin- 
ning, 82. 

Press  Associations,  10,  193. 

Printed  matter,  stories  on, 
121. 


344 


INDEX 


Prominent  names,  23,  57, 
108-116,  150,  161,  178. 

Proof,  30. 

Proofreader's  signs,  32, 
290. 

Property  losses  as  features, 

23,  55- 

Property  threatened  as  fea- 
ture, 66. 

Public  records,  4. 

"Punch,"  13. 

Punctuation,  281. 

Purpose  of  newspapers,  14. 

Q 

Q.  &  A.  testimony,  201, 
283,  288. 

Queries,  12. 

Questions,  reader's  custo- 
mary, as  features,  51 ;  in 
fire  stories,  38,42,  50,  77; 
in  follow  stones,  132;  in 
human  interest  stories, 
233;  in  interview  stories, 
179;  in  obituaries,  215; 
in  other  news  stories, 
106;  in  speech  reports, 
150. 

Quotation    beginnings,    di- 
rect,  151,    153,   l83,    198, 
245;  indirect,  154. 
Quotations,    103,    146,    164, 

186,  189,  200,  284. 
Quoting,  rules  for,  284. 


Range  of  news  sources,  20. 
Readers,  classes  of,  16. 
Reader's    customary    ques- 
tions.    See  Questions. 
Receptions,  210,  291. 
Rehashing,  125-130. 
Related    stories,    140,    176, 

187. 

Releasing  a  story,  31,  144. 

Reporter,   2,   28,    170,    186, 

219,  235,  258,  259,  292. 

Reporting  court  news,  192- 

202,  281. 

Reports,  dramatic,  259- 
275;  of  meetings,  con- 
ferences, decisions,  etc., 
119;  of  speeches,  ser- 
mons, lectures,  etc.,  143- 
168. 

Rescues  as  features,  65. 
Rewrite  man,  125. 
Rewrite  story,  32,  125-130. 
Robberies,  no,  291. 
Runs,  or  beats,  5,  29. 
Running  a  story,  30. 
Running     story,     31,     189, 
200,  223,  227. 


Sarcasm,  274. 
Scoop,  or  beat,  6,  30. 


345 


INDEX 


Season  story,  257. 

Second  day  story,  32,   125, 

130-140. 
Sensationalism,     18, 

90,  234. 

Sentence  length,   76. 
Sermons,     reports     of,     3, 

143-168. 
Set  up,  to,  30. 
Simple  fire  story,  40-49. 
Slang,  28,  292. 
Slash,  to,  37,  92. 
Slug,  30. 

Sob  squad,  236.     . 
Social       announcements, 

212. 

Social  news,  204-214. 
Sources  of  news,  4,  29. 
Speaker     beginning,      161, 

1 80. 
Special  feature  story, 

255- 
Speech  reports,  3,  143-168, 

284,  291. 

Sporting  editor,  29,  219. 
Sporting  news,  219-232. 
Staff,  28. 
State  editor,  2. 
Stenographic    reports,    144, 

194. 

Stickful,  32. 
Stories     to    be     corrected, 

3"- 
Storms,  3,  116. 


Story,  30;  baseball,  219- 
232;  big,  see  Big  story; 
body  of,  see  Body  of  the 
story;  faults  in  news,  75- 
104;  feature  fire,  50-74; 
fire,  38,  40,  105,  122;  fol- 
low, follow-up,  or  sec- 
ond day,  32,  125,  130- 
140;  form  of  news,  34- 
40;  news,  34-40,  50,  75, 
105-124;  on  announce- 
ments, bulletins,  and 
other  printed  matter, 
121 ;  on  legislative  bills, 
121 ;  parts  of  news,  45, 
76,  91;  police  court,  118; 
related,  140;  rewrite,  32, 
125-130;  running,  31, 
189,  200,  223,  227;  sim- 
ple fire,  41-49;  special 
feature,  255 ;  summary 
athletic,  222;  unusual  so- 
cial, 213. 

Street  numbers,  278,  279, 
286,  288,  290,  292,  310. 

Style,     13,     33,     103,    233, 

251- 
Style  Book,  33,  276-293. 

Suggestions  for  study,  4, 
294. 

Suicide  stories,  115,  291. 

Summary  beginning,  for 
court  reports,  197;  for 
interview  stories,  182, 


346 


INDEX 


1 88;   for   speech   reports, 

157- 
Sums   of  money,  281,   286, 

290. 

Sunday  editor,  29. 
Superlatives,  222,  292. 


Tables  of  athletic  results, 
232,  283. 

Taking  notes.  See  Note 
taking. 

Telegraph  editor,  2,  29. 

Telegraph  queries,  12. 

Telephone,  use  of,  13. 

Terms,  newspaper,  28-33. 

Testimony,  200. 

Thai-clause  beginning,  in 
interview  stories,  182;  in 
speech  reports,  154. 

Theatrical  news,  259-275, 
284. 

Time,  indication  of,  281, 
286. 

Time  beginning,  47. 

Timeliness,  in  general,  19; 
in  human  interest  stories, 
238,  256,  286;  in  inter- 
views, 176,  187. 

Tips,  3,  30,  295. 

Title  beginning  of  speech 
report,  160. 


Titles,  use  of,  276,  277, 
279,  282,  284,  287,  290, 
292. 

Track  news,  219,  223. 

Truthfulness,  8;  in  gen- 
eral, 290;  in  human  in- 
terest stories,  239;  in 
interviewing,  179;  in 
speech  reporting,  145, 
168. 

Typewriter,  use  of,  289. 


U 

Unexpected    attendant    cir- 
cumstances, 60. 
Unexpected  news,  2. 
Uniformity,  33,  34,  289. 
United  Press,  10. 
Unusual,  social  stones,  213. 
Unusualness,  24,  213. 
Up  style,  33. 
Uplift  run,  236,  254. 
Usual  football  story,  223. 


Values,  news,  n,  14,  27, 
38,  41,  204,  233. 

Vaudeville  reports,  264. 

Vernacular,  newspa- 
per, 28. 

Vividness,  104,   114,  116. 


347 


INDEX 

W  Where,  as  feature,  52. 

,,,  Who,  as  feature,  57. 

Weather  story,  256.  ,,,'        , 

,,r    ,,.  Why,  as  feature,  5*. 

Wedding      announcements,      „,.     ,. 

Wordiness,  87. 
209. 

Wedding  story,  206. 

What,  as  feature,  55.  Y 

V/hen,  as  feature,  54.  Yarn,  30. 


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